The Sunday Seventh-day Theory.
By C. H. Bliss
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matt. 12:40. This prophecy is used to sustain a theory which not only contradicts itself, but also several declarations of scripture, and the plain facts in the case. The theory is this: That Christ, in order to fulfill this prophecy, must lie three whole days and nights (seventy-two hours) in the tomb; and as Christ was crucified on Friday, which they presume to call the fifth day of the week, and expired near 3 P. M. (the ninth hour, Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34–37), he could not have arisen before Monday. And as it was the first day of the week on which he arose (Mark 16:1–9; John 20:19), then it must necessarily follow that Monday is the first day of the week and not Sunday, as most people suppose; and as the seventh day immediately precedes the first, so Sunday must be the true seventh day. Now we will notice some absurdities which must follow, providing the theory in question be true. 1. That the Mahometans, who number hundreds of thousands, and are scattered throughout the different parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe, are all making a mistake in observing Friday for the sixth day of the week instead of Saturday, which would be the sixth day of the week, if the preceding theory were true. 2. That the Jews, who also are very numerous and are scattered throughout nearly every nation on the globe, have all made a great mistake in the past, in meeting together on Saturday for their worship, instead of Sunday. And, strange as it may appear, they were all unanimous in meeting on that day, insomuch that there were none of them but honestly supposed that it was really the true seventh day on which they had always met for worship; and, stranger still, not one of them has ever found out the difference from that day to this; so that they are now all observing the sixth day, whereas they were once all observing the seventh. Now, certainly, if they should make such a mistake as this, the outside world would correct them. If simply one Protestant church in our land should make such a blunder as this, they would be considered insane. Then think of hundreds of worshiping assemblies all making this one mistake. But such mistakes have been made, if Sunday is the true seventh day. 3. That the whole Christian world, which must number several hundred millions, have also made a great mistake, from the fact that they are all unanimous in declaring Sunday to be the first day of the week, the day on which Christ arose, the most of them observing it in honor of his resurrection, instead of observing the seventh day in honor of the work of creation. 4. That our dictionaries and chronologies, and all our learned men, are in error in regard to this thing; for they all declare with united voice that Sunday is the first day of the week, and Saturday the seventh. For while some of them differ in regard to the time which has transpired since the beginning of creation, yet all are agreed concerning the numbering of the days of the week. 5. That our best and most reliable histories are all wrong in this matter; for all that speak upon the subject regard Sunday as the first, and Saturday as the seventh, day of the week; some even giving an account of how the professed Christians in the fourth and fifth centuries ceased the observance of the seventh day (called the Jewish Sabbath), and commenced the observance of the first day in honor of Christ’s resurrection. These histories are indorsed by the whole literary world. Certainly it would require a plain, “Thus saith the Lord,” which will admit of no other interpretation, to justify us in taking a position against so much good historic evidence. But before we proceed to offer additional evidence against the theory in question, we wish first to settle the much-disputed point in regard to the day on which the crucifixion took place. This we think was upon the sixth day of the week (Friday), and offer in support of this proposition the following reasons: 1. The day of his crucifixion was the preparation day, Matt. 27:62; Luke 23:54. But to this it is objected that the preparation day, here spoken of, was not the preparation for the weekly Sabbath, which always occurred upon the sixth day of the week, but for the passover, John 19:14, which always came upon the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, and this year occurred upon the sixth day of the week; and the preparation for this passover would be the day previous, which this year would be the fifth day of the week. But we find upon examination that the word πάσχα, translated passover, in John 19:14 is used with reference, not only to the feast which occurred upon the 14th of Nisan, but also to the holy days of the passover week (see Encyc. Rel. Knowl.), which were two in number, the first always upon the 15th day of the month, and happening this year upon the seventh day of the week, or the Sabbath. John 19:31. “That Sabbath was an high day,” etc. So the Jews at the time of our Lord’s crucifixion observed both the weekly, and a yearly, Sabbath, upon the same day, one in commemoration of creation, the other in remembrance of their escape from Egypt. 2. The day following this preparation day was the Sabbath. Mark 15:42. See also Luke 23:54. “And the Sabbath drew on,” &c. And this is further attested by the fact that they were in haste to bury him before the Sabbath should begin. John 19:42. 3. “They returned and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56. Whereas, had his crucifixion occurred earlier in the week than the sixth day, they could have attended to this work before the Sabbath began. Had it taken place on the fifth day of the week (Thursday), as some contend, then the preparation day was still before them, and could embalm his body and not put it off until the next first-day morning. 4. Had his crucifixion taken place on any other day than the sixth, the prophecies he spoke concerning his resurrection would not have been fulfilled. In Matt. 16:21 we learn that Christ was to suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Now, had his trial, crucifixion, and death, occurred on any other day of the week than the sixth, his resurrection would not have taken place on the first day of the week. Had he been crucified upon the fifth day, Thursday, his resurrection must necessarily occur upon the seventh, or Sabbath; for this would have been the third day from his crucifixion; and had his crucifixion been earlier in the week, his resurrection must have occurred still earlier in the week than the seventh day; but as the Scriptures abundantly testify that he was raised upon the first day of the week, one half of it being gone (the term day including twenty-four hours), his crucifixion must have taken place on the sixth day of the week, according to the common usage of language. But it is objected that Christ could not have lain in the tomb any part of the day on which he was crucified; for Joseph did not ask for the body until even had come. Matt. 27:57; Mark 15:42. “And when the even was come,” &c.; and as the even, which began at sunset and marked the beginning of the next day, had come before the burial, he consequently was not buried until the day following his crucifixion. This objection at first seems quite plausible, yet a few facts will place it in a different light. 1. There is nothing in the original answering to the word “when.” The simple meaning of the phrase in Matthew being, Ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης, “And evening being come,” or, as Mark has it, “Evening now being come.” 2. There are two evenings recognized in the Scriptures, Ex. 12:6; Num. 9:3, margin, “Between the two evenings.” 3. The first evening began about 3 P. M. The second, or true evening, which marked the beginning of the day, began at sunset; and between these two evenings, on the 14th of Nisan, the passover was sacrificed. See Religious Encyclopedia, Bible Dictionary, Josephus’ “Wars of Jews,” b. vi, p. 562, Clarke’s Comments, etc. 4. The hours between 3 and 6 P. M. on the sixth day were devoted to special preparations for the Sabbath. See Clarke. What, then, shall we understand by the phrase, “evening being come”? Simply that the hour had arrived in which special preparations were to be made for the Sabbath. At this point of time the disciples immediately took the body of our Lord from the cross and laid it in the tomb, which was in the same garden; and that this was done before the beginning of another day is further attested by the fact that it was contrary to their law to permit a criminal to hang on the cross till the commencement of another day. Deut. 21:23. We think the foregoing evidence is sufficient to establish the proposition that Christ’s crucifixion occurred on Friday the sixth day of the week. With this fact before us, we will now offer additional evidence against the theory we have had under consideration. We have already made the statement that this theory was contradictory to plain declarations of scripture. Now we have eight prophecies spoken in plain, literal language that Christ should rise the third day from his crucifixion, Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7; and two stating that he did rise the third day, Luke 24:46; 1 Cor. 15:4. Each one of these scriptures is a testimony against this theory in question; for if he arose the third day from the crucifixion day he must have arisen sometime between sunset on what we call Saturday evening and sunset on Monday evening; for a full natural day in Bible reckoning begins at sunset and ends with sunset. See Luke 13:32; Acts 27:17; Lev. 23:32; 22:6, 7; Mark 1:32. But it is not enough that this theory should thus contradict Holy Writ, but like all other false theories it contradicts itself. For as I have previously stated, this theory is founded upon the supposition that Christ lay in the tomb three whole days and three whole nights (seventy-two hours); and as his crucifixion took place on Friday, expiring about 3 P. M., his resurrection must have occurred on Monday, instead of Sunday morning, as is generally claimed. Be it remembered that they admit that his resurrection took place on Monday morning. Now we are prepared to ask when the three days and nights will expire. If we reckon from the time of his death, 3 P. M. on Friday, they will bring us to 3 P. M. on Monday. According, then, to their own showing, the three days and nights fall short over one half day, about nine hours. This theory, then, is against itself, and therefore cannot stand. What, then, shall we understand from the scripture upon which this theory is based? Matt. 12:40. Wesley says, “It was customary with the eastern nations to reckon any part of a natural day of twenty-four hours for the whole day; and as the Hebrews had no word to express a natural day, they used night and day, or day and night, for it; so that to say a thing happened after three days and nights was the same as to say, it happened after three days, or on the third day. See Esth. 4:16; 5:1; Gen. 7:4, 12.” Wesley’s Notes on Matt. 12:40. See also Clarke. If the preceding comments be correct, and we certainly have no reason to deny them, then the same idea conveyed to those who heard that language would be conveyed to us by this verse should it read, “For as Jonah was three days in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days in heart of the earth;” and this translation, according to Wesley and Clarke, is proper, and can be fulfilled according to the custom of the eastern nations in their usage of language, by the Saviour’s lying part of each of the three days in the tomb. And this was fulfilled by the Saviour’s lying in the tomb the latter part of the sixth day, Friday, the whole of the seventh day, Saturday, and one half of the first day, Sunday. With this view of the matter, all is plain and harmonious. With the other there is no harmony, the theory not only contradicting itself, but also many declarations of scripture and the plain facts in the case.