BOTH THE SABBATH AND SUNDAY OBSERVED BY CONSTANTINE.
By Editor
IN many a history of the Christian church and in treatises on the "Sabbath" we find the Edict of Constantine ordaining that on the "venerable day of the sun" the magistrates and people residing in the cities should rest, and all workshops should be closed, but not one of these modern writers tells us that this same Constantine ordained that the Sabbath should also be observed in the same manner as the Lord's day. Yet, if the writer will look at Eusebius De Vita Constantini ("Life of Constantine"), book 4, chap. 18, page 263, et seq., of the edition published at Leipsic, 1830, he will find written in Greek the words which, translated, may be correctly rendered as follows:— "And he [Constantine] also decreed that it was fitting to observe as a day of prayer the day which is truly the first and chief of days, which is really the day of the Lord and Saviour; and deacons and ministers consecrated to God by him, men orderly as to gravity of life and every virtue, were appointed guardians of his entire household; and spearmen, trusty body guards, equipped with habits of good will and with faith, were instructing their imperial master in pious ways, they themselves in no less degree honoring the day of the Lord and Saviour and on them [i. e., these days] offering prayers which were pleasing to the emperor. "The blessed one [the emperor] urged that all men should do likewise, he being earnestly desirous that he might by gentle means cause all men to become God fearing. Wherefore, he exhorted all those who were living as citizens under the Roman Government to be at leisure [for all Roman citizens to rest] on the days named after the Saviour, and in like manner to honor the Sabbath days also, in order, as it seems to me, that they might call to mind what had been done on these days by the Saviour of all. "And while instructing all of the soldiers to honor diligently the day of the Saviour, which is also called the day of light and of the sun, he granted leisure to those who held the inspired faith to devote themselves, without hindrance, to the church of God, that they might offer up their prayers without any interference." Eusebius is often called the "Father of Church History," and words like the above, written by himself, are certainly entitled to great weight. They prove conclusively that, as late as the time of Constantine, who died 340 A. D., Sunday observance was not substituted for that of the Sabbath; for the Sabbath was also honored in the same manner as was the Sunday. These words of Eusebius are also in harmony with those of Socrates, another church historian, who wrote more than a century later, and who says:— "For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries [the memorial of the last supper] on the Sabbath [seventh day] of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this. The Egyptians in the neighborhood of Alexandria, and the inhabitants of Thebias, hold their religious meetings on the Sabbath, but do not participate in the mysteries." With these facts before them, facts which no scholar will deny, we ask our readers to inform us when the apostolic change of the360Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week took place. Gradually?—No. There was no thought—there could have been no intention—to substitute the one for the other till long after this time. Let modern writers or pulpit orators say what they will, no more authoritative words can be found than those we have quoted. Facts are stubborn things.—The Outlook.