When Is the Proper Sabbath?

The Seventh Day Adventist Church does indeed maintain that Saturday is the Sabbath and that the faithful should worship God on Saturday. This practice, of course, is rooted in the Jewish Sabbath. The Sabbath was linked to Gods day of rest on the seventh day of creation: "So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work He had done in creation" (Gn 2:3). When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, the same rationale was given for the Sabbath day: "In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day He rested. That is why the Lord has blessed the Sabbath day and make it holy" (Exodus 20:11). The word "Sabbath" derives from the root word meaning "to rest" or "to cease." In Judaism, the Sabbath observance became a distinctive mark distinguishing Jews from Gentiles, and entailed both a day of rest and religious assembly (Lv 23:1-3). In a nutshell, this basis is the reason why the Seventh Day Adventist Church continues to observe Saturday as the day for worshipping God. However, such a position is opposed to consistent Christian tradition. (Keep in mind that the Seventh Day Adventists were officially organized in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1863.) Jesus Himself asserted, "The Son of Man is indeed Lord of the Sabbath" (Mt 12:8). Our Lord rose from the dead on Sunday morning, the first day of the week. Just as God had created light on the first day of Genesis, Christ is the light who came into the world and who on Easter was the morning star of a new age, conquering sin and shattering darkness. Therefore, the Lord of the Sabbath through His saving act established a new Sabbath observance.

The "first day of the week" observance was clearly the new Sabbath for the Christians. In Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul records how the faithful gathered together for "the breaking of bread" and preaching (Acts 20:7ff). He also spoke of how a collection would be taken to support the less fortunate in the Church (1 Cor 16:2).

The life of the first century Church also attests to Sunday as the day of worship. The Didache, the first manual of doctrine, liturgy and morals attributed to the teachings of the apostles and written as early as AD 80, stated, "On the Lords Day of the Lord, gather together, break bread and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure." Please note that the seemingly redundant "Lords Day of the Lord" actually indicates that in this earliest time Sunday was officially called "the Lords Day" was set by the Lord Himself.

The designation of Sunday as the "Lords Day" is well-established by the second century. St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. 107), whose writings provide great insights into the beliefs and practices of the early Catholic Church, remarked, "Those who walked in ancient customs came to a new hope, no longer sabbathing but living by the Lords Day on which we came to life through Him and through His death" (Letter to the Magnesians). St. Justin Martyr (d. 165) in his First Apology which was addressed to the Emperor Antonius Pius to show that Christianity was not subversive to the empire wrote, "The Day of the Sun is the day on which we all gather in a common meeting, because it is the first day, the day on which God, changing darkness and matter, created the world; and it is the day on which Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead."

While Sunday was clearly the day of worship for the Church, the old Jewish sabbath prescriptions of refraining from work and business transactions were not transferred to Sunday until the fourth century after the legalization of Christianity. In Christian cultures, Sunday became not only the day of worship of God but also the day of rest. Only in the past 30 years have we seen Sunday returned to paganism where not only it has become a day of business but the shopping mall has become the temple of worship.

In an Angelus address, Pope John Paul II reminded the faithful, "The spiritual truth of the biblical sabbath is fulfilled in the Christian Sunday, the day of Christs resurrection, the Lords day par excellence in which life triumphed over death, planting the seed of the new creation. The celebration of Sunday, therefore, proclaims that event. For believers it is not only an obligation to prayer, which in reality should arise at every hour of the day throughout ones whole life, but to a demand for what we would call a prolonged intimacy with the Lord. Sunday is the day reserved for the Fathers special encounter with His children, it is a time of intimacy between Christ and the Church, His Bride. The obligation to participate in Sunday Mass is understood in the light of this profound spiritual and religious experience."