Saturday sabbath or Sunday-does it matter?

[JohnL]

When God created the universe I’m pretty sure he wasn’t using a Hebrew or Gregorian calendar.

Why does it matter which day is celebrated as the day of rest?
Please no politics or AI. Just your insights and thoughts are appreciated.

[barnhart]

I observe a day of rest an worship on Sunday but I am not dogmatic about. If pressed, I will retreat to the position that sabbath rest is a type or foreshadowing of the gospel (Hebrews 4 and Colossians 2:17) and is fulfilled in Jesus. The command to assemble with fellow believers holds far more weight for me.

[Ken]

The 7-day week used by the ancient Hebrews probably came from the ancient Babylonians who based it on the 7 visible celestial bodies (at that time): the five planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—and the sun and moon. The days of the week were named after these seven celestial bodies and still are.

The 7-day week was not universal. Early Rome had an 8-day week and the 7 day week wasn't officially adopted by Rome until Emperor Constantine adopted the Christian 7-day week into the Roman calendar in 321 AD.

The Jewish day of rest is obviously based on the Genesis creation story and 10 Commandments, and is obviously the sabbath or Saturday, the 7th day of the week.

At some point in the early history of Christianity, Christians began to worship on Sunday. Probably to honor Christ's resurrection which, of course, happened on Sunday. And probably also to distinguish Christianity from Judaism which still worshiped on the Sabbath. There are all manner of ancient early Christian writings on this topic but they are not all consistent. Officially, the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.

[Ernie]

I think it is good for a society to take one day of rest per week and time to worship together. (not just a couple hours on Saturday or Sunday morning and then business as usual.)

I prefer taking that on Sunday in celebration of the resurrection by I understand the arguments for Saturday.

Those who need to serve in healthcare and so forth may need to take their day of rest another day.

[Neto]

I think it is good for a society to take one day of rest per week and time to worship together. (not just a couple hours on Saturday or Sunday morning and then business as usual.)

I prefer taking that on Sunday in celebration of the resurrection by I understand the arguments for Saturday.

Those who need to serve in healthcare and so forth may need to take their day of rest another day.

In the MB congregation in which I grew up (and where I was baptized and first became a member) the Pastor's day of rest was Monday, because Sunday was a very busy time for him, with preaching both morning and evening.

As to the question, however, I do not see any Biblical evidence of an early switch to the first day of the week (our Sunday), as opposed to the 7th day, the Sabbath. But it is what it is, and I'm fine with it being Sunday.

[Bootstrap]

Saturday is the Sabbath day. Sunday is the Lord's Day, the day of resurrection.

The command to keep the Sabbath is first given at Mount Sinai in the Ten Commandments, which are clearly God's covenant with Israel, not with all the nations:

Exodus 19:3-6

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

The Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20, which starts with:

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Of course, the creation story does tell us that God rested on the seventh day (Saturday).

Genesis 2:

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

But that is not a command. The account of Adam and Eve does not mention observing the Sabbath. Neither do the stories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Joseph, or any of the other patriarchs. These accounts do not show God commanding the Sabbath or the patriarchs observing the Sabbath. That's relevant when you read Galatians 3 and Galatians 4, this is not the promise of Abraham, this is the Law of Moses given at Mount Sinai.

That makes the Fourth Commandment different from the rest of the Ten Commandments. All people are expected not to steal, commit adultery, etc., and that clearly includes Christians today. Under Jewish tradition, all human beings, as descendants of Noah, are bound to the covenant God made with Noah. That does not include Sabbath observance.

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/articl ... hide-laws/

Seven commandments which, according to Jewish tradition, are incumbent upon all of humankind.

In the ninth chapter of Genesis, we read this:

God speaks to Noah and his children as they exit the ark: ‘Behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you.’ (Genesis 9:9)

Although rabbinic texts preserve various traditions about the details of this covenant, the Talmud reports the following:

The children of Noah were commanded with seven commandments: [to establish] laws, and [to prohibit] cursing God, idolatry, illicit sexuality, bloodshed, robbery, and eating flesh from a living animal (Sanhedrin 56a; cf. Tosefta Avodah Zarah 8:4 and Genesis Rabbah 34:8).

The Laws

• Do establish laws.
• Don’t curse God.
• Do not practice idolatry.
• Do not engage in illicit sexuality.
• Do not participate in bloodshed.
• Do not rob.
• Do not eat flesh from a living animal.

What does the Talmud say about Gentiles and Sabbath observance? There's some disagreement - at least one Rabbi thought Gentiles who observe the Sabbath deserved the death penalty. See https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.58b.2 ... l&lang2=en:

And Reish Lakish says: A gentile who observed Shabbat is liable to receive the death penalty, as it is stated: “And day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:23), which literally means: And day and night they shall not rest. This is interpreted homiletically to mean that the descendants of Noah may not take a day of rest. And the Master said (57a) that their prohibition is their death penalty, i.e., the punishment for any prohibition with regard to descendants of Noah is execution. Ravina says: If a descendant of Noah observes a day of rest on any day of the week, even one not set aside for religious worship, e.g., on a Monday, he is liable.

But the Gamara disagrees:

The Gemara challenges this: But let the tanna count this prohibition among the seven Noahide mitzvot. The Gemara explains: When the tanna counts the seven mitzvot, he counts only those that require one to sit and refrain from action, i.e., those that include a prohibition against performing a certain action. He does not count mitzvot that require one to arise and take action.

All of this is background for the New Testament teaching. Gentiles were not required to keep Sabbath. Acts 15 tells us what Gentiles were required to do, and it does not include the Sabbath:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

Paul stresses this in some of his letters:

Colossians 2:16–17:

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Romans 14:5–6:

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.

I think that last verse is the best way to approach this issue. In the New Testament church, Jewish believers continued to attend synagogue on Sabbath, often gathering as followers of Jesus after synagogue hours (Acts 13:14–44). Gentile believers were not required to rest on Sabbath. Many met for worship on the first day of the week (Sunday) to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).

Over time, the Church became primarily Gentile. The Didache (c. 100 AD) describes Christians gathering on “the Lord’s Day” for breaking bread. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 AD) contrasts Christians who “live according to the Lord’s Day” with those still observing Sabbath. He warns Gentile Christians not to “Judaize” by keeping the Sabbath (Letter to the Magnesians 9). Justin Martyr (c. 150 AD) says thatthe Sabbath was given to Israel as a sign, but it is not binding on Christians. He defends Sunday worship as the new pattern, tied to both creation (“first day”) and resurrection. By the early 2nd Century, Sunday was clearly the predominant day of worship.

In 321 AD, Constantine declared Sunday a civil day of rest in the Roman Empire. But Sunday was still called The Lord's Day, not Sabbath. By the Middle Ages, some popes and councils began to use Sabbath language for Sunday, stressing rest from work. Pope Gregory VII (11th century) condemned those who insisted on keeping Saturday, saying Christians must keep Sunday. Later medieval writers started to call Sunday “the Christian Sabbath.”

I have heard people say that Pope Gregory declared that Sunday was the Sabbath, or that the Council of Trent decided this. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not. I would be interested in any evidence people have for these claims from the documents themselves.

[Ken]

As to the question, however, I do not see any Biblical evidence of an early switch to the first day of the week (our Sunday), as opposed to the 7th day, the Sabbath. But it is what it is, and I'm fine with it being Sunday.

That is because worshiping on Sunday became institutionalized centuries after the New Testament was written.

[mike]

Saturday is the Sabbath day. Sunday is the Lord's Day, the day of resurrection.

Bootstrap, this was a most excellent post. I appreciated it.

[mike]

As to the question, however, I do not see any Biblical evidence of an early switch to the first day of the week (our Sunday), as opposed to the 7th day, the Sabbath. But it is what it is, and I'm fine with it being Sunday.

That is because worshiping on Sunday became institutionalized centuries after the New Testament was written.

It is interesting how entrenched Sunday worship has become for most Christians considering the lack of Biblical evidence that Neto speaks of. However, many other things likewise became Christian tradition without such evidence. Infant baptism and a lot of the other traditions of the Catholic and Orthodox churches. But Sunday worship stuck not only for those churches but for most of those who derived from them, down to this day with few exceptions. Observance of restrictive Sunday lifestyle rules has largely faded out, with some exceptions, but Sunday worship seems like it's here to stay.

I also feel like it's fine to worship on Sunday, no problem there, it's just interesting; and there really is no basis in Christianity for 'Judaizing' Sunday either.

[Bootstrap]

As to the question, however, I do not see any Biblical evidence of an early switch to the first day of the week (our Sunday), as opposed to the 7th day, the Sabbath. But it is what it is, and I'm fine with it being Sunday.

I see some evidence:

• Acts 20:7: “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.”
  This shows gathering for worship, teaching, and communion on Sunday.
• 1 Corinthians 16:2: Paul instructs believers to set aside offerings “on the first day of every week.”
  This implies regular gatherings on Sunday when collections could be taken.
• Revelation 1:10: John says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.”
  This is the only direct NT reference to “the Lord’s Day.” Most early Christian writers identify this as Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection.

Jewish believers continued to attend synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 13:14; Acts 17:2), but the distinct Christian practice centered on the first day as a celebration of the new creation in Christ.

I also see Paul telling Gentiles not to be compelled to observe the Sabbath (e.g. Colossians 2:16–17).