The Early Christian and the Sabbath
By W. H. Bunch
THE relation sustained by the early Christian to the Sabbath of the Decalogue is a subject of absorbing interest to candid, conscientious students of both the Bible and history. The utter unreliability of nearly all the historians of that period touching this as well as all other matters of importance, makes doubly difficult the solving, from this source, at least, of any question affecting the practise of the true followers of the Saviour. Yet the diligent searcher for facts is amply rewarded for the time and the effort necessary to know definitely the attitude of those most directly influenced by Christ and His apostles to this now vital question. True Sabbath observance is dependent upon the spiritual condition of Christianity. With the decline of spirituality, Sabbath observance suffered similarly, and finally almost ceased amid medieval darkness. It is very interesting to note that with the increase of knowledge relative to man's duty to his Maker, the Sabbath presents itself as a part of "the whole duty of man," and is one of the cardinal features of a message calling people to return to the "old paths" preparatory to the return to this earth of the Lord of the Sabbath, and our ability to greet Him with acclamations of joy. The Sabbath in the First Century
The first clear-cut and unequivocal statement we have as to Christians observing the Sabbath, is placed in the year A.D. 31, and reads as follows: "And it was the day of the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women, who had come with Him out of Galilee, followed after, and beheld the tomb, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." Luke 23: 54-56, A.R.V. This well-known inspired history is a record of events just following the death and burial of our Saviour. Let us notice briefly a few of the facts here presented. First, the women referred to were Christians. Second, one of them, His mother, probably knew more of His life and teachings than did even His chosen apostles. She more than any one else possible kept all His "sayings in her heart." Luke 2: 51. From infancy to manhood and all through His ministry, she had watched and had been wonderfully influenced by His divine presence and teaching. She watched His death and the awe-inspiring scenes attending it. She, with the other women, followed Him to His place of interment, saw the arrangement of the body, and then spent the remaining hours of Friday preparing for the last service of love to One who occupied every affection of their devoted hearts. Why did they not repair at once to the tomb and anoint the body? Why wait till Sunday morning? The answer is most clearly given: "And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." And the commandment says definitely, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work." Whence came this seemingly unprecedented respect for the Sabbath, a respect which deferred for thirty-six hours an eager longing to visit the resting-place of their Lord and anoint His body with the precious ointments prepared by loving hands so long restrained by an influence transcending boundless gratitude or even parental affection? We are absolutely certain that it did not come from the example of the Jewish leaders and teachers; for these professed teachers and examples of God's truth for that age spent the sacred hours of that same Sabbath demanding of Pilate a guard, which they secured, and in placing it and sealing and making sure the tomb. Matt. 27: 62-66. I again ask, From whom did those Christians receive these principles of Sabbath observance, from Jesus, or from the Jews? Here we are presented with a marked reformation in relation to practises long formally adhered to by God's professed people, and for fully a century following this event Christianity was considered as nothing more than a reformed sect of Judaism. About the year A.D. 61 we get the following glimpse of the Christians in Rome, and so far as information is obtainable conditions were the same throughout the empire: "They wore no distinctive garb like the professors of philosophy; they continued to dwell in the midst of their unconverted countrymen, frequented their synagogs, and respected their Sabbaths. . . . Before Saint Paul came among them they can hardly have had a ministry, nor can we speak with certainty of any definite provision being made even by him at Rome for this distinctive badge of an independent religion. Christianity with them was eminently a doctrine rather than a ceremonial." —"History of the Romans," Merivale, volume 6, chapter 54, page 218. This from the historian accords exactly with the inspired record as given in the Acts of the Apostles: "And Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures." Acts 17: 2. The Romans Classed Jews and Christians Together
The apostles and their fellow Christians had the same access to and the same privilege to use the synagogs as had other sects of the Jews. Merivale, in the chapter referred to above, shows clearly that the Jews and the Christians were considered by the Romans as one and the same people. Note the following: "On the Christians, regarded as a remnant or revival of Judaism, Tacitus, it may be supposed, bestowed all the bitterness which a terrible war had engendered in Roman breasts against everything Jewish." "It should be noticed, to show how readily Tacitus might confound the Jews and the Christians, that he characterizes both in precisely the same remarkable terms."—Page 221. Since Tacitus did most of his writing in the first two decades of the second century, it is manifestly evident that he still saw nothing in their observance that would justify his considering them as a separate people. In volume 6, "History of the Romans," the point is taken and clearly maintained that the so-called early persecutions of the Christians were in fact directed against the Jews, and only affected the Christians by their similarity of religious practises. In volume 7, page 488, this fact is thus briefly stated: "The first persecution of the Christians under Nero I have ascribed to popular indignation at the unruly temper of the Jews with whom they were at first confounded and by whom they were discovered and denounced." The Sabbath a Distinguishing Mark
To show that the Sabbath especially distinguished the Jews in Rome as elsewhere from all other religionists, note conditions at an earlier date, before the charge of burning Rome and the Jewish war so embittered the Romans against them: The first Cæsars secured to them the free exercise of their religion, countenanced their assemblies, made gifts to their temples, and even admitted them along with the citizens of the republic to a share in the largesses of corn; and if the distribution took place on their Sabbath, the Jews were allowed to apply for their share on the day following. The mysteriousness of their belief, or rather, perhaps, the earnestness of its devotees, exercised an extraordinary influence on the Roman mind. Amidst many public expressions of hatred and disgust, knights and senators still turned towards it with curiosity, interest, and awe. In Palestine rude centurions lowered their ensigns before its symbols, or built synagogs for its worshipers. In Rome the5name of its first Expounder was held in honor, its sacred books were not unknown, the glorious imagery of their poetry was studied and reproduced. Men and women, the latter doubtless the most numerous, crowded its place of meeting, observed its holy days, and respected its antique traditions.—Volume 6, chapter 54, pages 204, 205. But One Conclusion as to the Day
Since the Romans were so familiar with the Jewish faith and practise, and since they could not distinguish between Jew and Christian, but one conclusion can be reached by the candid student as to the attitude of the latter to the seventh-day Sabbath. Heathen, Jews, and Christians alike looked upon Christianity as simply one of the many sects into which Judaism was divided. A careful study of the history of the first century will amply sustain the foregoing statement, while the following brief quotations leave but little if any doubt as to its truthfulness: At first there would be no question in any quarter of the abandonment of ancient rites and usages. If a few more ardent or more tender spirits were at once captivated by the first shadowing forth of true Christian liberty, they would not dream as yet of seceding from the rest on matters of religious discipline.—Id., page 211. Under date A.D. 81 this statement is made: Many citizens of every rank had more or less openly addicted themselves to Jewish usages and tenets, and when a Jewish sect ventured to transfer its obedience from the law of Moses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the number of its adherents in the capital of the empire would seem to have embraced Jews, Greeks, and Romans in nearly equal proportions. Between these two branches of the same stem there reigned a deep antagonism, in which the government and the mass at least of the Roman people took no interest. When the jealousy of the government was excited against the Jews, indignant both at their turbulence and their proselyting spirit, they might involve the Christians in the common charge, or might, perhaps, divert it from themselves upon their rivals. When, however, after the great Jewish war, that jealousy was converted into settled hostility, both the Jews and the Christians would be placed under the same ban, and if the sword was retained in its scabbard, they would be sternly forbidden to exercise their spiritual influence upon the citizens around them or receive converts from the national religion into their ranks. Their exemption at this period from actual persecution might be secured by the demand that was made upon them for tribute. Both Jews and Christians undistinguished by the Roman government, were required to pay the double drachma, according to Vespasian's enactment, and if the Christian exclaimed against being thus confounded with a religion which they really renounced, those at least among them who were of Jewish extraction would be traced by the national token of circumcision.—Volume 7, chapter 67, pages 123, 124. Just following the above quotation we are told that those claiming to be Christians, to avoid the penalties of Vespasian's enactment, were required to uncover, and their connection with Judaism was determined by the fact of their being or not being circumcised. If the Christians of that time were not observers of the Sabbath, would they have been thus closely confounded with the Jews? At the present time, would any one suggest the idea that Christianity is a sect of the Jews, or that the only way to disprove such a relation is by the rite of circumcision? (To be concluded next week)