Historic Denominational Statements on The Sabbath
"who said and what they said"
Anglican
‘And
where are we told in the scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all?
We are commanded to keep the seventh ;but we are no where commanded to keep the
first day….The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the
seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because
the Bible, but because the Church, has enjoined it.’ Isaac Williams, Plain
Sermons on the Catechism, pages 334, 336.
Baptist
(A)
‘There
was and is a command to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath was not Sunday.
It will however be readily said and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath
was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, with all its duties,
privileges and sanctions. Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which
I have studied for many years, I ask, where the record of such transaction can
be found: Not in the New Testament-absolutely not. There is no scriptural
evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first
day of the week.’ Dr. E. T. Hiscox, author of the Baptist Manual.
(B)
To me
it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years’ discussion with His disciples,
often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question, discussing it in some of
its various aspects, freeing it from its false (Jewish traditional) glosses,
never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during the forty days
of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated. Nor, so far as we know,
did the Spirit, which was given to bring to their remembrance all things
whatsoever that He had said unto them, deal with this question. Nor yet did the
inspired apostles, in preaching the gospel, founding churches, counseling and
instructing those founded, discuss or approach the subject. Of course I quite
well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a
religious day as we learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources. But
what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened
with the name of the sun-god, then adopted and sanctified by the Papal
apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism.’ Dr. E. T. Hiscox,
report of his sermon at the Baptist Minister’s Convention, in ‘New York
Examiner’, November 16, 1983.
(C)
‘There is nothing in scripture
that requires us to keep Sunday rather than Saturday as a holy day.’ Harold
Lindsell (editor), Christianity Today, November 5,1976.
Catholic
(A)
‘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 Elizabeth, NJ ‘News’ on March 18,1903.
(B)
Protestants…accept Sunday rather
than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the
change…But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that…in observing
Sunday, they are accepting the authority
of the spokesman for the Church, the pope.’ Our Sunday Visitor,
February 5, 1950.
(C)
Of course these two old
quotations are exactly correct. The Catholic Church designated Sunday as the
day for corporate worship and gets full credit-or blame-for the change.’ This
Rock, The Magazine of Catholic Apologetics and Evangelization, pg.8,
June 1997.
(D)
Rev. Stephen Keenan, A
Doctrinal Catechism; New York in 1857,pg. 101 Imprimatuer,174,
Q. Have you any other proofs that they (Protestants)
are not guided by the scripture?
A. Yes; so many, that we cannot admit more than a
mere specimen into this small work. They reject much that is clearly contained
in scripture, and profess more that is nowhere discoverable in that Divine
Book.
Q. Give some examples of both?
A. They should, if the scripture were their only
rule, wash the feet of one another, according to the command of Christ, in the
13th chapter of St. John;- they should keep, not the Sunday, but the
Saturday, according to the commandment, ‘Remember thou keep holy the SABBATH
day; for this commandment has not, in scripture, been abrogated or changed;…
Q. Have you any other way of proving that the
Church has power to institute festivals of precepts?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done
that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have
substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the
observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no
scriptural authority.
(E) Rev. Peter
Geiermann C. SS. R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,pg.50:
Question. Which 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.
(F) ‘The Roman Catholic Church changed the
observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible
authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming
the Bible to be the only guide of faith
has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-day Adventist
is the only consistent Protestant’ The Catholic Universe Bulletin,
August 14, 1942, pg.4
Church
of Christ
(A)
“But we do not find any direct
command from God, of instruction from the risen Christ, or admonition from the
early apostles, that the first day is to be substituted for the seventh day
Sabbath.” “Let us be clear on this point: Though to the Christian ‘that day,
the first day of the week’ is the most memorable of all days…there is no
command or warrant in the New Testament for observing it as a holy day.” “The
Roman Church selected the first day of the week in honour of the resurrection
of Christ…” Bible Standard, May 1916, Auckland, New Zealand.
(B)
“…If the fourth command is
binding upon us Gentiles, by all means keep it. But let those who demand a
strict observance of the Sabbath remember that the seventh day is the ONLY
Sabbath day commanded, and God never repealed that command. If you would keep
the Sabbath, keep it; but Sunday is not the Sabbath. The argument of the
‘Seventh-day Adventists’ is on one point unassailable. It is the Seventh day
not the first day that the command refers to. ”G. Alridge, Editor, The Bible
Standard, April 1916.
(C)
“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. There never was any 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, pages 17,19
(D)
“It is clearly proved that the
pastors of the churches have struck out one of God’s ten words, which, not only
in the Old Testament, but in all revelation, are the most emphatically regarded
as the synopsis of all religion and morality.” Alexander Campbell, Debate
with Purcell,pg.214
Methodist
(A)
“This ‘handwriting of ordinance’
our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to His cross (Colossians 2:14).But
the moral law contained in the Ten Commandment, and enforced by the prophets,
He did not take away….The moral law stands on an entirely different foundation
from the ceremonial or ritual law…EVERY PART of this law must remain in force
upon all mankind and in all ages.”John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions,
2-vol. edition,vol.1,pages221,222.
Presbyterian
(A)
“The Christian Sabbath (Sunday)
is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive Church called the
Sabbath.” Dwight’s Theology,vol.14,pg.401.
(B)
We must not imagine that the
coming of Christ has freed us from the authority of the law; for it is the
eternal rule of a devout and holy life, and must therefore be as unchangeable
as the justice of God, which it embraced, is constant and uniform.” John
Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Gospels,vol.1,pg.277
(C)
“God instituted the Sabbath at
the creation of man, setting apart the Seventh day for the purpose, and imposed
its observance as a universal and perpetual moral obligation upon the race.”
American Presbyterian Board of Publication, tract no.175.
Miscellaneous
“You will tell me that Saturday was
the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed!
But by whom? Who has authority to change an express commandment of Almighty
God? When God has spoken and said ‘Thou shall keep holy the seventh day, ‘who
shall dare to say ‘Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of business on the
seventh day; but thou shall keep holy the first day in its stead’? This is a
most important question, which I know not how you can answer.”
“You are a Protestant, and you profess to
go by the Bible and the Bible only; yet in so important a matter as the
observance of one day in seven as a holy day, you go against the plain letter
of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded.
The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments; you
believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you authority to tamper
with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really
follow the Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New
Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered.”The Library
of Christian Doctrine, pages 3-4.
7 Amazing Facts about
The Seventh-Day Sabbath
Fact
1: The Seventh-day Sabbath establishes God’s sovereignty.
Fact
2: The Seventh-day Sabbath was made for everyone-Mark
2:27.
Fact
3: It is not about just keeping any day. Note that
God’s blessing makes the difference (Gen.2:1-3)
Fact
4: We know the true Seventh-day-
(A)
According to Scripture, Christ
died on Friday and rose on Sunday, the first day of the week. Practically all
churches acknowledge this by observing Easter Sunday and Good Friday.
(B)
The calendar has not been changed
so as to confuse the day of the week. Pope Gregory XIII did make a calendar change
in 1582, but it did not interfere with the weekly cycle. What did Gregory do to
the calendar? He changed Friday, October 5, 1582, to Friday, October 15, 1582. It
did not affect the weekly cycle of days.
(C)
The Jews have observed the
seventh day from the time of Abraham, and still keep it today. An entire nation
of people, all around the world, continue to observe a Sabbath they have known
for more than 4,000 years.
(D)
Over 100 languages on earth use
the word “Sabbath” for Saturday:
Hausa
- Assebatu
Edo - Edeken
Ibo - Ubochi Izuike
Italian
– Sabato
Spanish
– Sabado
Latin - Sabatum
Portuguese
–Sabado
Romanian
– Sambata
Sudanese
– Sabtu
Greek
– Savvato
This
proves that when those languages originated long ago, Saturday was recognized
as the Sabbath day and was incorporated into the very name of the day.
Fact
5: The Sabbath is not meant to memorialize the
resurrection. Baptism is the memorial of Christ’s death, burial, and
resurrection (Romans 6:4).The Sabbath is a memorial of creation.
Fact
6: The Sabbath is not a memorial of deliverance out
of Egypt.
Fact
7: The Sabbath will be celebrated for eternity
because it is God’s seal; it is also a sign of the redemption He offers to all (Isaiah 66:22, 23)
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