The Change of the Sabbath
By Roderick S. Owen
SINCE the only weekly Sabbath brought to view in the Bible is the seventh day, and since in the latest accounts given in the New Testament it is still spoken of as the Sabbath, with no intimation of a change, the question often arises, When, where, and how was the change from the seventh to the first day of the week, in the practise of the church, brought about? Dan. 7: 25 speaks of a blasphemous power that would think to change times and laws, and would wear out the saints of the Most High, and into whose hands all these would be given for a period of twelve hundred and sixty years. In 2 Thessalonians 2 the apostle Paul speaks of a falling away which was to come, and in which there would be developed a man of sin, that would sit in the temple (church) of God, exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, "showing himself that he is God." This could be fulfilled only by some one in the church exalting himself above others until he would even assume the rights and prerogatives which belong to God alone, and in the exercise of these assumed rights, would substitute his authority for that of the Creator, thus leading men to obey him instead of God. The apostle also states that the mystery of iniquity, which is the center and heart out of which all this would grow, was already at work in his day. On his way to Jerusalem, in his third missionary journey, Paul called the elders of the church of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, and in giving them counsel he warned them against this spirit of self-exaltation, saying, "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Acts 20: 30. Thus we find that among the elders, or bishops, the spirit of self-exaltation would come in, until men would substitute themselves for God in the mind of others. As an illustration of this in the apostolic days, we have the case of the church of Corinth, reproved by the apostle for being in a divided state, as follows: "Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" Thus we see that the condition of dissension and strife in that church was due to the fact that some were assigning to Paul, some to Apollos, and others to Cephas, the place which Christ alone should occupy in the minds of all. And this work of exalting men in the church went on until it finally resulted in placing one man as the head of all churches and the corrector of all heretics. The strife among the bishops for place and power is a very interesting history, but can not here be followed in detail. Suffice it to say that early in the controversy a few of the bishops of leading churches pushed to the front, and were soon recognized as rivals in the race for supremacy. Among these may be named the bishops of Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Rome. Later the rivalry assumed the form of a contest between the East and the West with Rome as the recognized leader and mistress of the West. There is a common agreement that during the first centuries of the Christian age the Sabbath was observed by all Christians. In fact, history shows that legislation, both ecclesiastical and civil, was required to turn the mass of Christians away from the seventh to observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath. At the first, Sunday was not recognized even as a rival of, much less a substitute for, the Sabbath. Not until the days of Constantine was it set forth as the successor and heir to all that belongs to the true Sabbath. This fact is stated by Eusebius as follows: Whatsoever it was duty to do on the Sabbath these we have transferred to the Lord's day.—"Sabbath Manual," by Justin Edwards, pages 125-127.
Sunday, being early adopted in the West, soon became a point over which to assume authority and to exercise power. The legislation along this line runs about as follows: Beginning perhaps in the year 314, the bishops secured an edict ordering the suspension of all business in the courts and civil offices on Fridays and Sundays. (Neander, section 3, part 2, division 3, paragraph 2.) On the seventh of March, 321, Constantine issued his famous Sunday decree, enjoining rest upon the part of magistrates and people residing in the cities, and the closing of all workshops, on the "venerable day of the sun;" permitting, however, country people to labor, lest peradventure they should lose the bounties of heaven by not sowing and reaping at the proper time. Without stopping to consider the question as to whether this was a decree favoring Christianity or paganism, all must agree that it was religious in character, and issued by Constantine by virtue of rights vested in him as pontifex maximus, the highest religious officer in the empire. And it certainly was made use of for the furtherance of religion by the bishops and church in succeeding years. Easter seems early to have been introduced into the practises of the church as a sort of successor of the Passover, and as such was celebrated for some time on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish year, in common with that feast. The Western churches first adopted the custom of celebrating it always on Sunday, and on the Sunday nearest the date of the Passover; but the churches in the East did not adopt this custom. At the Council of Nice, A.D. 325, it was decreed, and a letter was sent out to all churches, by the bishops, notifying them of the decision, that all should celebrate Easter on Sunday, in harmony with the Western churches, and thus not have anything in common with the hated Jews. This was soon after followed by a letter from Constantine endorsing the decision, and urging all to comply strictly with it. (Socrates, "Ecclesiastical History," book 1, chapter 9.) At the Council of Carthage, A.D. 401, canon 5 was enacted to close all circuses and plays on feast-days and on Sundays, because the people were more inclined to go to the circus than to the church. A civil law enforcing this decree of the church was secured A.D. 425. Thus step by step, by human enactments, was the Sabbath of Jehovah set aside, and men were forced to desecrate it; while its rival, Sunday, was exalted, and became its supplanter. Thus did the man of sin exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God sat in the temple of God, acting just as if he were God. Thus did he think to change the law of God. Thus did he assume the rights and prerogative which belong to God alone. Thus was the law of Jehovah robbed of its seal among the disciples of Christ. But the Lord says, "Bind up the testimony, seal [put the seal to] the law among My disciples." Who will do this? Who will accept the sign of the Creator, when both His Word and His memorial are trampled underfoot, and worldly wisdom and worldly power are combined to overthrow them?