Did the early Church move the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? (Ecumenical)

Catholic.com ^ | Peggy Frye

[narses]

Full Question

Until recently, I always thought Catholics worshiped on the Sabbath, and that the early Church moved the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Is this true? Answer

This is a common misunderstanding. Catholics do not worship on the Sabbath, which according to Jewish law is the last day of the week (Saturday), when God rested from all the work he had done in creation (Gen. 2:2-3). Catholics worship on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week (Sunday, the eighth day); the day when God said "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3); the day when Christ rose from the dead; the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles (Day of Pentecost). The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: "The Church celebrates the day of Christ’s Resurrection on the ‘eighth day,’ Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord’s Day" (CCC 2191).

The early Church did not move the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Instead "The Sabbath, which represented the completion of the first creation, has been replaced by Sunday, which recalls the new creation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ" (CCC 2190). Sunday is the day Catholics are bound to keep, not Saturday.

We see evidence of this in Scripture:

On the first day of the week when we gathered to break bread, Paul spoke to them because he was going to leave on the next day, and he kept on speaking until midnight (Acts 20:7). On the first day of the week each of you should set aside and save whatever one can afford, so that collections will not be going on when I come (1 Cor. 16:2). Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or Sabbath (Col. 2:16). The Catechism also says:

By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of Christ’s Resurrection, the Church celebrates the Paschal mystery every seventh day, which day is appropriately called the Lord’s Day or Sunday. The day of Christ’s Resurrection is both the first day of the week, the memorial of the first day of creation, and the "eighth day," on which Christ after his "rest" on the great Sabbath inaugurates the "day that the Lord has made," the "day that knows no evening." (CCC 1166)

Other CCC references to the Lord’s Day: 349, 2174, 2175, 2191

Answered by: Peggy Frye

[Diego1618]

But now, let me ask you, DOES GOD CLOSE HIS EARS ON THE OTHER DAYS OF THE WEEK IF SOMEONE OFFERS PRAYERS OR HYMNS other than YOUR SABBATH?

Of course not....and I never implied this to be the case.

If God does not close his ears on other days why are we having this discussion in the first place.

I don't know. I originally responded to silliness posted by "zerosix" (post #49) and some incorrect information by editor-surveyor (post #132) and daniel1212 (post #133) and you and your cohorts in "Lah Lah Land" began jumping all over me. If you don't like my posts.......don't read em'! They're designed for Lurkers anyway.....who do not yet know the truth and haven't been totally corrupted by Rome and her daughters!

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

Since the word Week is sabbaths, by YOUR reconning this man fasted twice on sabbath day.

Did he eat breakfast, skip lunch, then supper?

It has been pointed out that at the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had a fast on Tuesday and Thursday, so the use of the word “twice in the sabbaths” is correctly translated twice in the week, as the KJV and all other translations have it.

Since you don’t have any confidence in Lightfoot, who spent his life in REAL bible study how about these quotes.

Bava Kama describes ten enactments ordained by a man named Ezra, including the public reading of the law “on the second and fifth days of the sabbath,” and the washing of clothes “on the fifth day of the sabbath” (Lightfoot, 2:375; Bava Kama, Chapter 7).

In Michael Rodkinson’s 1918 translation of Maccoth and Bava Kama, he accurately translated “the second day of the sabbath” as Monday, “the fifth day of the sabbath” as Thursday, and “the first of the sabbath” as Sunday.

http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=2022

I’ll still stick with these learned men rather than some johny-come-lately who has gone of on a real tangent.

[daniel1212]

How can someone be placed “back under” something they were never under before?

That is what the Galatians were in danger of supposing.

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28-29)

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28-29)

And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. (Acts 15:1)

You are no preaching any new heresy. You cannot be under the law without having to be circumcisied as a matter of obedience, but the literal command to do so is clearly abrogated. . As will be explained, saving faith does not mean one must be circumscribed and keep all the law, as the censored Judaizers taught. .

Timothy did it our of love and obedience as He was entering God's shepherd-ship...

Rather, Timothy "would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek." (Acts 16:3)

This was wise in accordance with "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law." (1 Corinthians 9:20)

Timothy was under no obligation to be circumcised as a matter of the obedience of faith, any more than one needs to observe regulations regarding "meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." (Hebrews 9:10)

And it was thus that foods that were aforetime unlawful due to being unsanctioned or defiled, which typified the Gentiles, are cleansed and lawful. (Acts 10:11-16; Rm. 14:14; 1Tim. 4:3-5) The attempts to negate this are examples of cultic sophistry (like trying to make Rm. 14 to simply refer to meats sold in pagan markers!) .

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. (Galatians 6:15)

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28-29)

as I have said before, our works is evidence of our faith

I have maybe said the latter more than you, as it is true that the faith that appropriates justification without works is of a kind that effects obedience toward its Object, the Lord Jesus. And which works justify one as having saving faith. The issue is whether this means ones is under obligation to literally keep all the law as a matter of the obedience of faith, and the answer to that is manifestly no.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “When the Jews reckoned the days of the week they always used the day in it’s relationship to the Sabbath” <<

.
Basically true, but that is because the sabbath is both a beginning and an end.

Sabbath means either the seventh day, or a group of seven of anything, depending on the context.

Both you and Diego are correct if you look at it completely. The first of the sabbaths could be the first day of the first sabbath, (sabbath meaning what we call a week) or it could be just the entire first sabbath. You have to look at the context to see which it is.

It is obvious that this is a reference to the “weeks” of pentecost in either case, and equally obvious that if it was the first day, it didn’t mean that there was significance to that day, other than that it was the beginning day.

I don’t see enough definitive information in the text to determine whether they spoke of a particular day, or just a particular week, but given the facts of the culture, I have to lean toward the entire week.

[daniel1212]

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:23-26)

[daniel1212]

You pinged me?

some incorrect information by editor-surveyor (post #132) and daniel1212

Consider the source.

Strong's #7677 shabbathown; sabbatism or special holiday:--rest, sabbath. Shabbathown is carried into the Greek as SABBATWN and it does not mean "Week"! ... If you wish to check the usage of the word SABBATWN in the New Testament.......please do. You'll find it's in use describing Feast Days or the seven Sabbaths of the Omer....not the regular weekly Sabbath.

Shabbathown is not simply used for a special holiday or plural sabbaths, but also is used in referring to the weekly sabbath by describing its character, as in, "on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbathH7676 of restH7677" - Exo_35:2.

And in the NT sabbatwn is used, according to your own source, to refer to the weekly sabbath, as in Lk. 4:16, in which Jesus "went into the synagogue on the sabbath [sabbatwn] day, and stood up for to read."

And,

But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath [sabbatwn] day, and sat down. (Acts 13:14)

And on the sabbath [sabbatwn] we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. (Acts 16:13) More

Meanwhile in the resurrection accounts it is used to refer to the weekly sabbath as referring to the first of the sabbath, the beginning of the interval between two Sabbath rest, (Mt. 28:1; Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1; Jn. 20:1,19) though i know you must work hard to make this refer to another sabbath, and insist God would have worded it your way in cases which are translated otherwise.

[editor-surveyor]

>> Bava Kama describes ten enactments ordained by a man named Ezra, including the public reading of the law “on the second and fifth days of the sabbath,” and the washing of clothes “on the fifth day of the sabbath” (Lightfoot, 2:375; <<

.
Do you realize that those ‘enactments,’ or ‘Takanots,’ are exactly what Yeshua condemned in Matthew 15?

How does one respect as “authority” another that uses contra-scriptural ‘enactments’ as a basis for his teaching?

[Diego1618]

Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. Since the word Week is sabbaths, by YOUR reckoning this man fasted twice on sabbath day.

The text represents the Hebrew, "I fast twice with respect to the Sabbath"....in other words......the Pharisee is reckoning time with a reference to the Sabbath. If Sabbath had meant week he would had said, "I fast twice a seven" (EBDOMA/ἕβδομα). He was being pious....pointing out how righteous he was by using this phrase which included the word Sabbath.

How do you suppose the Greek of [Luke 18:12] became written that way? The Pharisees fasted on Mondays and Thursdays and this was not common knowledge to the translators....and since they had already convinced everyone that SABBATWN meant week it was certainly no stretch to convince folks that SABBATOU also meant week.

By Jesus' time fasting had become a very important part of the Jewish life. Perhaps overly important would be a better way of saying it. Based on Luke 18:12, we know the Pharisees fasted twice a week. The Talmud tells us that this was on the 2nd and 5th day (Monday and Thursday). Why those days? According to the Pharisees it was because Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to get the Law on the 5th day and returned on the 2nd. At least that's what they said."

Look closely into Jewish history, you find another possible reason for the Pharisees fasting on Monday and Thursday. Market day in the city of Jerusalem was on the 2nd and 5th day! Everyone from the countryside came to town on those days. It was on these two days that the Pharisees chose to hold their fasts. They would walk through the streets with their hair disheveled; they would put on old clothes and cover themselves with dirt; they would cover their faces with white chalk in order to look pale; and they would dump ashes over their head as a sign of their humility!! Fasting had become a "look-at-how-spiritual-I-am" exercise. It was a hypocrisy.

Fasting

GEMARA: Who are meant by private individuals (in this Mishna)? Said R. Huna: "The rabbis." We have learned in a Boraitha that if private individuals commenced to keep the fast-days, they should fast on Monday, Thursday, and the following Monday; and they may interrupt their fast-days if a Monday or a Thursday fall on the day of the new moon or on such days as are mentioned in the Roll of Fasts.

Talmud

[Diego1618]

I pinged you..... as it’s considered good form to do so....if you mentions one’s name in your posting. I did so in answer to a question.

[Elsie]

But do you wish to know, O foolish man, that the belief without the works is dead?

---

HMMMmmm...

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Galatians 3

You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

[Elsie]

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have have kept my Fathers commandments, and abide in His love."

And just what ARE the 'commandments'?

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1 John 3:21-24

Dear friends,
if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

[Elsie]

Just what ...is the MARK OF THE BEAST??

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The Book says:

Revelation 13 (niv)

15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

[Elsie]

1/3 the Beast!!!!

[Elsie]

Hang in there!

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Do you realize that those ‘enactments,’ or ‘Takanots,’ are exactly what Yeshua condemned in Matthew 15?***

So? The purpose for posting this is to show what people meant by the words “first of the Sabbaths” at that time.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

The Mark of the Beast...

http://www.seventh-day.org/Read_NSL.htm
THE NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW

http://www.seventh-day.org/NSL-5.htm

CHAPTER 5! (Oh I’m shaking in my boots!)

***Look at this astonishing statement concerning her act of changing God’s Sabbath to Sunday - “Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act (get this now) is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.”
(1)! Sunday worship is the mark of the Papacy’s authority. The mark. Sunday worship is the “mark of the beast!” ****

[Elsie]

The mark.

on head or hand?

How bogus!

Does NO one actually READ the Book before conjuring up their pet little theories?

[Tennessee Nana]

Away w’ye, apostate...

the Danites are on the way...

I worship God every day of the week...

This is a slow thread...

It will be Sunday before the number is reached...

[patlin]

All are judged according to the Law, however, one is only under if it one submits to it. There is submission as an act that submitting to the Law brings salvation, and then there is the true Gospel message that submission out of love for the Father through Messiah brings the rewards of salvation.

I understand my position regarding His Law which is His Word which is His Truth which is the only path to Life eternal.

[patlin]

Jesus said that ALL that He did, His followers shall do also. What part of 'ALL' is so hard to comprehend?

Joh 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he shall do also. ... 15 If you love Me, keep My commandments. ... 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."

The Son came to teach us about the Father just as He has been doing from the beginning. He came with nothing new, He simply taught that which is the Father's eternal Truth that is the cornerstone, the foundation stone of all creation.