Faithful Writers

In article 2–10 , I provided many quotes from Catholic scholars who all unanimously affirmed that nowhere in the Bible can one find a teaching substantiating the transfer of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Well, how about the Protestant world? Well, hold onto your horses Bucko because in this post, I’m gonna provide some insightful quotes from the world of Protestant scholarship and then I’m going to close this series of articles on the Sabbath. Truthfully, I could go on and on, but I’ve got to move on and there is more than enough ammunition here to refute most false teachings the modern church promotes. However, rest assured this isn’t the last time we will discuss this Sabbath issue. When we get into the Book of Exodus and start discussing the 10 commandments, no doubt this topic will come up again. Well, here goes. Every one of these quotes is pure dynamite that will explode the false notion that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday. ‘There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday …into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters…The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday.’-Canon Eyton in The Ten Commandments , pp. 52, 63, 65 ‘Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history …But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!’-Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, in a paper read before a New York ministers’ conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner , Nov.16, 1893 ‘There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath to the Christian first-day observance. ’-William Owen Carver in The Lord’s Day in Our Day , p. 49 ‘…it is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath…(the) Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday… There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday .’-Dr. R. W. Dale in The Ten Commandments (New York: Eaton &Mains), p. 127–129 ‘…the Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures , and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath .’-Timothy Dwight in Theology: Explained and Defended (1823), Ser. 107, vol. 3, p. 258 “‘But,’ say some, ‘it was changed from the seventh to the first day.’ Where? When? And by whom? No man can tell. No; it never was changed, nor could it be , unless creation was to be gone through again: for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance, or respect to the reason, can be changed! It is all old wives’ fables to talk of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. If it be changed, it was that august personage changed it who changes times and laws ex officio — I think his name is Doctor Antichrist.’-Alexander Campbell in The Christian Baptist , Feb. 2, 1824, vol. 1, no. 7, p. 164, ‘The first day of the week is commonly called the Sabbath. This is a mistake. The Sabbath of the Bible was the day just preceding the first day of the week. The first day of the week is never called the Sabbath anywhere in the entire Scriptures . It is also an error to talk about the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. There is not in any place in the Bible any intimation of such a change. -First Day Observance , pp. 17, 19 ‘The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance , and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a Divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic Church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday.’-Dr. Augustus Neander, The History of the Christian Religion and Church Henr y (1843), p. 186 But they err in teaching that Sunday has taken the place of the Old Testament Sabbath and therefore must be kept as the seventh day had to be kept by the children of Israel… These churches err in their teaching, for Scripture has in no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath . There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect.-John Theodore Mueller in Sabbath or Sunday , pp. 15, 16 ‘But, the moral law contained in the ten commandments, and enforced by the prophets, he [Christ] did not take away . It was not the design of his coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken …Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other.’-John Wesley in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley , John Emory, ed. (New York: Eaton & Mains), Sermon 25, vol. 1, p. 221, ‘Take the matter of Sunday. There are indications in the New Testament as to how the church came to keep the first day of the week as its day of worship, but there is no passage telling Christians to keep that day, or to transfer the Jewish Sabbath to that day .’-Harris Franklin Rall in the Christian Advocate , July 2, 1942, p.26 ‘The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. This fourth commandment begins with the word ‘remember,’ showing that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote the law on the tables of stone at Sinai . How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding? ’-Dwight L. Moody in Weighed and Wanting (Fleming H. Revell Co.: New York), pp. 47, 48 ‘The Sabbath is a part of the decalogue — the Ten Commandments. This alone forever settles the question as to the perpetuity of the institution…Until, therefore, it can be shown that the whole moral law has been repealed, the Sabbath will stand… The teaching of Christ confirms the perpetuity of the Sabbath. ’-T. C. Blake, D.D., in Theology Condensed , pp. 474, 475 © Richoka

Today we’re going to look at a verse that is often used to defend that Sunday is the new Sabbath. “But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week, we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”-Acts 20:6–7 In English in verse 7 of Acts chapter 20, it states that the apostles came together on the first day of the week , thus seeming to imply that the Sabbath is now on the first day of the week. Let’s take a look at the original Greek of the phrase “the first day." The original Greek is below followed by the English transliteration. ΜΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΣΑΒΒΑΤΩΝ=mia ton Sabbaton The Greek word “ mia ” means “ one ” NOT “ first ." Actually, the Greek word for “ first ” is “ protos ” which is not even present in this text. If we were to properly render the above Greek into correct English it would read as follows: “One of the Sabbaths” How many pounds of marijuana does a Bible translator have to smoke to get to the translation “the first day ”? It is a colossal error to translate this into “ first day of the week ." The word “ day ” in the Greek is nowhere to be found. Actually, over the years many scholars have come to accept that this is a huge translation mistake. So what does “ one of the Sabbaths ” actually mean? This is where the context of the previous verse 6 is very crucial. “But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread , and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.”-Acts 20:6 Unless one acknowledges the Biblical feast days that God gave us, passages like this can be easily glossed over. So why is mention of this feast day so important? 4 These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 5 The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.- Leviticus 23:4–5 Now let’s jump down to verses 15 and 16 of this same chapter of Leviticus. 15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks . 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath,and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.-Leviticus 23:15–16 I know this is getting a bit complicated but stay with me. Notice in Acts 20:6, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is mentioned. So what were they doing in Acts 20:7? ANSWER: They were counting the Sabbath weeks as they were instructed as follows. 1st WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 2nd WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 3rd WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 4th WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 5th WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 6th WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 7th WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH (49th day) The 50th day refers to the verse “ Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath." A proper translation of Acts 20:7 should be rendered as follows: “On one of the Sabbaths, we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”-Acts 20:7 CONCLUSION: In Acts chapter 20, the Apostles were actually keeping one of the Sabbaths listed above as the Sabbath while they were counting the weeks up to the day of Pentecost and NOT the first day of the week as many try to say. © Richoka

Another popular set of verses the church often uses to teach that the Sabbath is no longer valid comes from Galatians. "8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." -Galatians 4:8–10 Alright homies, let me let you in on a newsflash that you may find quite startling. Verse 10 from above is NOT referring to the Sabbath or the Biblical festivals. Let me say that again. Verse 10 above where it says “You are observing special days and months…” is NOT and I repeat not referring to the Sabbath or Biblical Feasts. How can I be so sure? Well, let’s use our common sense a bit here. Who is Paul talking to here? He’s talking to the Galatians, right? And are the Galatians Jews or Gentiles? The answer is Paul is talking to Gentiles which means in the past they had never observed the Biblical feasts or the Sabbath in the first place. Look at verse 8. It clearly states that they “ did NOT know God." Again, this verse CANNOT be referring to the Jews, for if there is any nation that DID know God, it was Israel. Now look at verse 9. It says they (gentiles) are “turning back to those weak and miserable forces?” Now if they are Gentiles, what exactly are these “weak and miserable forces” they are turning back to? They are NOT turning back to the “Old” Testament teachings, because they never knew them in the first place. And it would be kind of ridiculous to think that Paul is referring to the “Old” Testament teachings, the very foundation of our Bibles, as “weak and miserable forces.” Don’t you think so? The answer is that they are turning back to the pagan gods and beliefs that they worshipped and believed BEFORE coming to the true God of Israel through faith in Israel’s messiah. I mean think about it. One who was not observing God’s ways in the first place cannot turn back to His ways. The same goes for the “special days and months and seasons and years ” mentioned in verse 10. This verse means the Galatians’ former “pagan special days and months and seasons and years." I don’t mean to step on any toes here, but don’t you think you could apply these verses to Christmas and Easter? Both are not Biblical festivals, and both originate from pagan beliefs. Am I implying the Christian Church should stop celebrating Christmas and Easter and, in their place, begin celebrating the Biblical feasts that point directly to Christ? Well, I guess I kinda am. But what do you think? © Richoka

Let’s move on to our next Sabbath Scripture teardown by looking at one of the most cherry-picked verses of all time the church uses to substantiate that Sabbath keeping is not for today. I’m talking about the following verse from Romans chapter 14. “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord;[ a ]and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats , eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat , to the Lord he does not eat , and gives God thanks.” -Romans 14:5–6 The first point I need to make is that the word “Sabbath” is not even mentioned in the text. Actually, it’s not even mentioned anywhere in the whole book of Romans. So if this is the case, where is it declared by God that the Sabbath no longer applies? Where can such an instruction be found here? Answer: Nowhere. So what is Paul talking about in Romans chapter 14? Answer: He is talking about fasting. Look at the verses in context. All you have to do is count how many times the word “eat” is used in the first six verses of Romans 14. Go ahead and count them. For example, if you’re reading a King James Bible, the word “eat” is used 10 times. This chapter has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Sabbath. You see, back in those days, there was a heated debated going on concerning what day one should fast on. One camp said this day was the best. Another camp said that day was best. And both sides were condemning each other. It was getting really ugly, so Paul had to step in and say… …”Look, this debate is NOT even biblical!”Fast on whatever day you want!” Even Jesus was confronted about this fasting issue. Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not? ”-Mark 2:18 Besides Yom Kippur, there is NOTHING in the Torah that says one day is preferred over another for fasting. Again, Romans chapter 14 has NOTHING to do with the Sabbath. Let’s not forget that everything Paul taught had to be in harmony with the Old Testament. CONCLUSION: If you’re going to use Romans 14:5–6 to promote the idea that the Sabbath can be any day one wishes, you are using a verse that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Sabbath whatsoever. That’s just a fact folks! © Richoka

The majority of Bible interpretation errors stem from the following principle taught at most Christian seminaries. “The Old Testament should be interpreted in light of the New Testament, NEVER the reverse!” Not only do I believe this statement is false but I feel the opposite is true. First of all, the term “Old Testament” is purely man-made and is a relatively modern title ascribed to that portion of the Bible. As far as the Bible is concerned, you should know there is no SUCH THING as an Old Testament. Interpreting the Bible starting from the New Testament is as I’ve said before like trying to make sense of a movie by watching it from its halfway point. It is the stubborn adherence to such a hermeneutic ( method of Bible interpretation ) that has led to the literally thousands of Christian denominations in existence today. Okay, let’s begin our first Scripture teardown of New Testament verses that the modern church uses to show that we are no longer required to keep the Sabbath. Let’s read Colossians 2:16–23 "16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not[ a ] seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20 Therefore,[ b ] if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations — 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men ? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." Regarding eating and drinking, Sabbaths, New Moons, etc, the common misinterpretation is that Paul was teaching that since Christ has done away with the Law, don’t fall prey to the retarded legalists ( like me ) who insist that Sabbath-keeping and the Biblical festivals etcetera are still valid. Okay, I’m about to destroy and I mean literally destroy this argument by asking one simple question. Who’s rules about eating and drinking, Sabbaths, New Moons, etc, was Paul referring to? Is Paul telling us to ignore God’s rules or man’s rules? Let’s take a good look at the context. VERSE 16: So don’t anyone pass judgement on you. VERSE 18: Let no one cheat you of your reward…such a person is always… VERSE 19: They have lost connection with the head… VERSE 22: which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men Do you think that Paul is now stating that the Torah was NOT given to Moses by God, but instead are human commands? I don’t think so. Here Paul is saying that it is fine to ignore HUMAN TEACHINGS, but, most certainly NOT God’s teachings. The truth is that men added hundreds of rules about the Sabbath, Biblical feasts, new moons etcetera that were even mixed in with pagan rituals. In many cases, these traditions and observances flat-out replaced Holy Scripture. It was these manmade commands that Paul was condemning. Keep in mind that the Sabbath established at the creation of the universe is NOT a manmade command. God instituted it. Okay, let’s move to a teardown of the following verse: "which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." So the traditional (incorrect) interpretation of these verses goes something like this: The Sabbath and the Biblical festivals etcetera are just a shadow pointing to Christ. So now that Christ has come we don’t have to worry about them anymore. Now here is the correct interpretation: Since they are a shadow of things to come IN THE FUTURE, the Sabbath and the Biblical festivals are to be followed as reminders of that which is still yet to happen. Think of it like this. The Spring feasts of Passover, First Fruits, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost were Holy Days that happened in the past. But they prophetically pointed to Christ. In other words, their “substance was of Christ." Following this same line of reasoning, this verse points to the future fall feasts of The Day of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles which are Holy Days. However, their substance is of Christ. To translate the verse in plain English: “Don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t keep the Sabbath or the Biblical festivals. They are Holy Days and should be followed. But know that their substance is of Christ.” © Richoka

We’re about to begin a series of articles that will examine how the modern church has misappropriated and misinterpreted certain New Testament verses in their attempts to invalidate the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. However, before we begin our analysis, there are two important foundational questions we need to ask ourselves. 1) Did Paul ever contradict the teachings of Christ? and 2) Did Paul ever break Jewish law (Torah) ? So let’s start with question one: Does Paul contradict Christ? First, what does Christ Himself have to say about the Law? “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear , not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven , but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:17–19 Look, if we accept traditional church teaching that the Sabbath is done away with, optional, or can be changed, we’d have to conclude that Paul contradicted Jesus. If that’s the case, then we might as well dump our Bibles in the trash. However, we don’t have to worry about that because Paul’s teachings do not ever contradict Jesus’s teachings. The above Scriptures make it clear that until heaven and earth disappear the validity of the Law stands. Jesus said that he came not to “abolish” but to “fulfill” the Law. “Fulfill” does NOT mean to “finish” but to “complete." The Greek word is “ pleroo ." Any reputable concordance will tell you that “pleroo” means to “fill up” or “to accomplish." For example, if you want your empty glass refilled with water, “pleroo” would be the appropriate word to tell a waitress at a restaurant. It literally means to fill up. When you ask your waitress to fill up your glass with water, you’re not asking her to terminate or put an end to your glass, are you? In the same sense, Jesus came to fill the Law with meaning and bring its meaning to its fullest purpose. This is what “pleroo” means. My point is, when we come across a couple of passages that seem to imply that the Sabbath has been done away with… Or that we can make the Sabbath any day we choose, such an interpretation cannot possibly be correct… Because it would contradict Christ and the foundational principle that God NEVER changes. It would be a classic case of Biblical contradiction. We would also have a situation of the disciple challenging his master. Can you see how ridiculous it is to have Jesus say that the Law will never be changed or abolished and then have Paul turn right around and say the opposite? Fortunately, that is not what Paul says. Let’s move on to the second question. Did Paul ever break Jewish law? If Paul taught that the Sabbath was done away with… Or that God’s eternal commands concerning the Sabbath are no longer valid… Then he has disobeyed Jewish Law… And disregarded the very sign that God gave to Israel in the Mosaic Covenant. Even if the argument that Jewish believers are still subject to the Torah while Gentile believers are not were true (which by the way, is not )… Such a line of reasoning wouldn’t be applicable here because Paul was a very patriotic and proud Jew. So did Paul ever break Jewish Law or say that parts of it were now done away with? Let’s take a look at some New Testament verses. In reply, Paul said, ‘I have committed no offense — not against the Law to which the Jews hold, not against the Temple , and not against the Emperor.’” -Acts 25:8 “After three days Paul called a meeting of the local Jewish leaders. When they had gathered, he said to them: ‘Brothers, although I have done nothing against either our people or the traditions of our fathers , I was made a prisoner in Yerushalayim and handed over to the Romans.’” -Acts 28:17 The above Scriptures make it clear that NOT ONLY did the Apostle Paul NOT go against the Law (Torah)… But he also kept the “traditions of our fathers." Meaning that he scrupulously adhered to the Jewish oral law traditions. Let’s get something straight. Sabbath observance was the very center of Jewish Law and life. If Paul was running amuck telling people that it was okay to stop observing the Sabbath or the Biblically ordained feasts. He would have been committing a very serious offense against Jewish Law (I’m talking about the death penalty). AND He would be contradicting the plain words of His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the point I want you to keep in mind as we begin Scripture tear-downs of certain New Testament verses that the church has traditionally used to teach that the Sabbath is no longer valid. STAY TUNED!!! © Richoka

In July of 1519, Martin Luther was debating Dr. Eck. ChatGPT Martin Luther was the founder of the Reformation. Dr. Eck was the most staunch defender of the catholic faith at the time. During the debate, both men were coming down to their final appeals to the people. Martin Luther’s final argument was essentially that, “Dr. Eck doesn’t know a thing about Scripture and isn’t willing to listen to a thing about Scripture.” Dr. Eck’s refutation of Luther’s accusation was so devastating that it rendered Luther speechless and ultimately caused him to lose the debate. What he said is a matter of historical record and here it is. “If you turn from the church to the Scriptures alone, then you must keep the Sabbath with the Jews, which has been kept since the beginning of the world.” -Dr. Eck’s Enchiridion pp. 78–79. You can almost see Dr. Eck twisting the knife as he says those words. Dr. Eck had a good point. Martin Luther was accusing Dr. Eck of not knowing anything about Scripture. He was accusing the catholic church of going in the wrong direction by not following him in the Reformation. But as Dr. Eck pointed out, Luther himself was not keeping the Sabbath. And if he wanted to go by SOLA SCRIPTURA, then he needed to start keeping the Sabbath. Needless to say, Martin Luther lost that debate. © Richoka

In the last post I made it clear that what the majority of the institutional church has been practicing for 1700 years is NOT a Sabbath that has been moved from the 7th day to the 1st day; instead it is an entirely different celebration established by the Roman Church at the Council of Laodicea in 364 AD at the command of the then current emperor of Rome, Constantine. Let’s take a look at an excerpt from the “Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine” QUESTION: What day is the Sabbath day? ANSWER: Saturday is the Sabbath day. QUESTION: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? ANSWER: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday. What’s really refreshing about this situation (and makes it much easier for me to do my research) is that the Catholic church is perfectly upfront and out in the open about what they’ve done. They make it very clear and openly say… … .”That’s right homies, we’re the ones who changed the day from Saturday to Sunday”.(That’s a paraphrase). The following are some quotes from Catholic scholars attesting to this. “It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does NOT support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday . Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church .”-Priest Brady in an address reported in the Ness, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903. “Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. From beginning to end of Scripture, there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first. ” -Catholic Press, Sydney Australia, August 1900. “Nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today, most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the (Roman Catholic) church outside the Bible .” -Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947 article “To Tell You the Truth. “I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic church alone. The Bible says ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy’. The Catholic Church says: ‘No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. ‘ And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic church.” -Father T. Enright, C.S.S.R of the Redemptoral College, Kansas City, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884 printed in History of the Sabbath pg. 802. “Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the church ever did, happened in the first century. The Holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The Day of the Lord’ was chosen not from any direction noted in the Scriptures , but from the (Catholic) church’s sense of its own power. People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th day adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” -St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995. “Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teaching only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday .”- Rome’s Challenge, www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003. “Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable for holy days. The (Roman Catholic) Church chose Sunday, the 1st day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days.” -John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, 1936 edition Vol. 1, pg. 51. “Unquestionably, the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the sabbatical observance of Sunday is known to have been ordained is the Sabbatical edict of Constantine , AD 321.- Chambers Encyclopedia, Article “Sunday” “Where are we told in Scripture that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh, but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day . The reason why we keep the 1st day of the week holy instead of the 7th is for the same reason that we observe many other things. Not because of the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it.” -Isaac William, Plain Sermons on the Catechism, Vol.1, pp. 336, 338. “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday.” -James Gibbons, The Faith of our Fathers, pp. 72–73. “But since Saturday, NOT Sunday, is specified in the Bible , isn’t it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not from the Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday?” -Father John A. O’Brien, The Faith of Millions, pp. 400–401 Personally, I agree with the Catholics on one point. Most definitely there is NOT one line of Scripture that warrants changing the Sabbath from the 7th day (Saturday) to the 1st day (Sunday) . The Catholics laugh at the Protestant sects who claim Biblical support for their Sunday worship practices. However, where I vehemently disagree with the Catholic Church is I’ll be damned if I’m going to accept the idea that church authority supersedes the plain teaching of Scripture on this issue or any other issue. So this is what it comes down to: Scripture or Tradition. Which one are you going to choose? © Richoka

ChatGPT In the series of articles leading up to this post, I believe I have firmly established that the 7th day that God refers to in Genesis chapters one and two ONLY refers to Saturday ( technically, Friday sundown to Saturday sundown ) and that the Sabbath was given to all mankind and not just the Jews. Finally, I have also provided Scriptural evidence that even after Jesus’s death the early Christians kept the Sabbath. So before moving on, if you are a Christian who worships on Sundays, I want to ask you if you would be willing to concede to the following point. When you gather together together on Sundays, you are obviously NOT observing the 7th day Shabbat. Putting arguments aside that “ we can make the Sabbath any day we want ”, or “ Christ did away with the law, so we don’t have to worry about it blah, blah, blah ”, or “It’s only for the Jews blah, blah, blah ” aside are you willing to concede to this one point? SUNDAY IS NOT THE 7th DAY SHABBAT THAT GOD SANCTIFIED AND COMMANDED HIS FOLLOWERS TO OBSERVE! Can you concede to this one point? If you did, congratulations!!! Why don’t you go get yourself a drink to celebrate? Don’t worry. I’ll still be here. Okay, welcome back! First, you should be aware that there have been many preeminent Christians and Christian institutions who openly admitted that when they gather on Sundays, it is not the the 7th day Shabbat. “I honestly believe that this commandment [the Sabbath commandment] is just as binding today as it ever was. I have talked with men who have said that it has been abrogated, but they have never been able to point to any place in the Bible where God repealed it .-Moody Bible Institute: “Sabbath was before Sinai” “We will now endeavour to show that the sanctification of the Sabbath has its foundation and its origin in a law which God at creation itself established for the whole world, and as a consequence thereof is binding on all men in all ages .” Evangelisten (The Evangelist). Stockholm, May 30 to August 15,1863 (organ of the Swedish Baptist Church) “It will surely be far safer to observe the seventh day, according to the express commandment of God , than on the authority of mere human conjecture to adopt the first.” John Milton, ENGLAND Sab. Lit. 2, 46–54 So how did Christians go from centuries of keeping the Sabbath to Sunday worship? The truth is we are observing a law enacted by Constantine and the Catholic Church in the 4th century AD who created a day of Christian fellowship that would be called The Lord’s Day. This is not speculation, nor is it criticism, it is simply well documented fact acknowledged by historians and Bible scholars alike. All you need to do to know the truth is read the actual church documents from the several meetings of the ecumenical councils convened by Emperor Constantine. Here is an excerpt from the Council of Laodicea document, Canon # 29. “Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s day; and, if they can, resting as Christians. But if any of them be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” And on March 7th, 321AD, Constantine set down the following decree: “Let all judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the Sun.” Do you know why we call Sunday, Sunday? It is because this was the day that the whole Roman empire met to worship the widely accepted Roman sun god, known as Mithras. © Richoka

Let’s take a trip back in time. Jesus and His disciples are sitting on top of the Mount of Olives overlooking the great temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. While the disciples are gazing with pride at this monumental piece of architecture symbolizing the eternal glory and power of the God of Israel, Jesus points to it and says: “You see all these? Yes! I tell you, they will be totally destroyed — not a single stone will be left standing!” The disciples are shocked and they ask Jesus, “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And thus begins a conversation that has fascinated and perplexed Bible scholars throughout the centuries. I am referring to Matthew Chapter 24. While Jesus is relating the events that are to occur, the disciples probably thought that the destruction of the temple and the end of the age would all happen at the same time. However, Jesus makes it clear in this chapter that there will be a whole sequence of events. He talks about the generation that would witness the destruction of the temple in 70AD and he speaks about the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy Place. Now what is of particular noteworthy mention is one piece of advice Jesus gives His followers about what to do to escape the inevitable slaughter that will accompany the destruction of the temple. Let’s take a look at Luke 24:20. “Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath .”-Luke 20:24 Can you see the tremendous significance of this statement? Jesus believed that His disciples were going to be keeping the Sabbath 40 years after His death. In other words, the Sabbath was still sacred at 70AD! I believe that God has made it clear that He believed His disciples would be keeping the Sabbath to the end of time. © Richoka