The Early Christian and the Sabbath
By W. H. Bunch
(Concluded from last week) [In his previous article Mr. Bunch gave evidence to show that the apostles and their associates respected only the seventh-day Sabbath, and that the Romans of the first centuries of the Christian era made no distinctions between Jews and Christians, and, along with this, historical data was presented showing that no controversy or discussion in that early period called in question the validity of the seventh day as the regular weekly Sabbath.—Editors.] THE crime of Judaizing caused the banishment of the apostle John, together with many other influential Christians and Jews. The death penalty was inflicted on some for the same reason, among whom was Flavius Clemens, first cousin to the emperor Domitian. (“History of the Romans,” Merivale, volume 7, chapter 62, pages 124-127.) Again we are confronted with the unavoidable conclusion that Christianity at the close of the first century retained all the fundamental principles and practises of the parent stem, and was not distinguishable from it by any changed attitude toward the Decalogue—the central fact in the matter of observance of the whole Mosaic system. Deut. 4:2; Eccl. 12:13. The year 182 A.D. marks the date when the Christians became known to the Roman government and people as a separate religious body from the Jews, and this separation was precipitated by the Jews themselves. (Idem, chapter 65, page 294.) The Distinction Perceived
The immediate cause of their expulsion from Judaism is given by the historian as follows: “They [the Jews] complained that Hadrian had enrolled himself as a proselyte of the law, and were doubly incensed against him as a persecutor and a renegade. This assertion indeed may have no foundation; on the other hand it is not unlikely that this prince, a curious explorer of religious opinions, had sought initiation into some of the mysteries of the Jewish faith and ritual. But however this may be, he gave them mortal offense by perceiving the clear distinction between Judaism and Christianity, and by forbidding the Jews to sojourn in the town which he was again raising on the ruins of Jerusalem, while he allowed free access to their rivals.”—Idem, page 317. It is interesting to note that this distinction between Jews and Christians as it appeared to the emperor Hadrian rests principally on the rite of circumcision, which he now forbade the Jews to practise (Idem, page 317), and the doctrine of the trinity (Idem, chapter 66, pages 368, 369). Not once does the Sabbath inject itself as a distinguishing element between Judaism and Christianity. The year following, or in A.D. 133, the Christians began their experience as an independent religious body; and speaking of the reported regard in which they were held by Hadrian, the historian continues: “We hear indeed of the graciousness with which he allowed them, among other sectarians, to defend their usages and expound their doctrines in his presence; and doubtless his curiosity, if no worthier feeling, was moved by the fact, which he fully appreciated, of the interest they excited in certain quarters of the empire. But there is no evidence that this favor extended further than to the recognition of their independence of the Jews, from whom they now formally separated themselves, and the discouragement of the local persecutions to which they were occasionally subjected.”—Idem, chapter 65, page 319. The Injection of Sunday Unavoidable
It may be asked if equally conclusive indications of the early observance of Sunday by Christians is not in evidence. The student of these rival institutions is fully prepared to admit not only this fact, but he is also sensible of the existence of conditions which made the injection of Sunday into the Christian system not only probable but almost unavoidable. Paul clearly shows the already developing tendency to set aside the claims of God’s law even in his day: “For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work; only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of His coming.” 2 Thess. 2:7, 8, A.R.V. “I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” And the disciple whom Jesus loved had a foretaste of this spirit of self-exaltation out of which grew all the errors and bloody experiences of the Middle Ages. “I wrote somewhat unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.” 3 John 9.5As the Christians were themselves at first sectarians innovating on the national creed of Judaism till they were cast forth from its bosom, so there soon appeared within the pale of Christianity a strong disposition to discover fresh modification of Christian doctrine, and provoke expulsion from the new community. The church sought to convince the innovators alternately by argument and authority, and it is clear from her earliest traditions that she leaned to the second of these means at least as readily as to the first. Her discipline was drawn closer by the stricter organization to which she was now subjected; the decision of questions of doctrine was brought to a more definite point by the formal ratification of a canon of Scripture, and the interpretation of Holy Writ was referred to a tradition, the keys of which were lodged with her rulers, the bishops.—“History of the Romans,” volume 7, chapter 65, pages 294, 295. Lawlessness and Greed Taking Possession
A startling glimpse is given of the extent to which the spirit of “lawlessness” and greed had taken possession of the Christian church, at least in Egypt, before the first half of the second century had passed. Let us keep in mind the fact that “the fundamental theory of the Egyptian religion was that whatever gave life was worthy of adoration. The sun, or the spirit that ruled the sun, was pre-eminently the giver of life; therefore the sun, or the spirit of the sun, was a god, and worthy of worship in the highest.”—Ridpath’s “History of the World,” volume 1, chapter 5, page 83. During Hadrian’s stay in Alexandria, he wrote a letter to Servianus, his brother-in-law, in which occur the following statements showing that sun-worship among the leading Christians of that city was at least countenanced: “I am now become fully acquainted with that Egypt which you extol so highly. I have found the people vain, fickle, and shifting with every breath of opinion. Those who worship Serapis are in fact Christians; and they who call themselves Christian bishops are actually worshipers of Serapis. There is no chief of a Jewish synagogue, no Samaritan, no Christian bishop, who is not an astrologer, a fortune-teller, and a conjurer. The patriarch himself, when he comes to Egypt, is compelled by one party to worship Serapis; by the other, Christ. They have but one god [alluding to their love of money]; him Christians, Jews, and Gentiles worship all alike.”—“History of the Romans,” volume 7, chapter 66, pages 373, 375. In “History of the Romans,” volume 6, chapter 54, page 218, it is stated that the day following the Sabbath was honored as the day of the Lord’s resurrection; and in a foot-note at the bottom of the same page is shown a digression from the primitive church in marriage ceremonials. The latter, he says, “are derived from heathen usage.” He makes no such charge as to the honoring of the first day of the week, but its setting shows that it was becoming a rival to the true Sabbath. Passing over the spiritual darkness of two centuries, we are brought face to face with the outgrowth of this commingling of Christian and heathen usages. “To this epoch belong the great activities of Constantine.” A Fourth Century Sunday Law
He was indefatigable in promoting what he deemed to be the reforms demanded by the times. The bottom questions which he had to confront were essentially religious. His great principle of action looked to the union in one body of the Christian and the pagan populations of the empire. . . . In the year 321 a statute was enacted forbidding all secular employment and civil procedures on Sunday. . . . Meanwhile Licinius in the East looked with alarm and jealousy on the proceedings of his colleague. Himself more of a pagan than a Christian, and disliking the whole tendency of consolidation which Constantine had so diligently fostered, he sought to undo the political and religious fabric which his colleague was rearing around himself in the West. War broke out between the rival emperors in A.D. 323. . . . In A.D. 325 he convened a great council at Nicæa, the modern Nice, in Bithynia, and here was undertaken the work of unifying the dogmas of the faith. Constantine himself, supported by a body of soldiers, presided over the deliberations. He heard the testimony of the various priests and bishops as to the traditional beliefs which they had received and taught. Judgment was rendered on the questions at issue between the conflicting parties, and a standard of orthodoxy established for the future government of the Christian world!—Ridpath’s “History of the World,” volume 3, chapter 66, pages 329-331. The utter abandonment of all moral restraint as a result of this merging of paganism and professed Christianity is aptly illustrated by a single example. Several years before this event [or about A.D. 365] the pope Liberius passed away, and his death was followed by an unseemly and bloody contest among the aspirants for his place. The pontificate had now become the principal office in Rome. Every element in the lust of power whetted the appetite of him who sought the place of chief bishop of Christendom. Wealth, honor, luxury, the devotion of man, the adoration of woman, everything which could contribute to inflame the ambition and dazzle the vision of a vainglorious devotee, appealed to the imagination of the ecclesiastic contending for the prize. Two candidates, Ursinicus and Damasus, presented themselves for the suffrages of the church. Both claimed to be elected. Violent tumult ensued. The parties armed themselves and rushed to the conflict. The prefect of the city exerted himself in vain to maintain the peace. For several days the riot continued unabated, until what time the ladies of Rome, with whom Damasus was a favorite, interfered in his behalf and brought him off victorious.—Idem, pages 333, 335. The First Anathema Against Sabbath Observance
Out of this vortex of lawlessness issued the first anathema against Sabbath observance by the so-called Christian church, date about A.D. 375. To keep the Sabbath “according to the commandment” was denounced as Judaizing by that semi-pagan organization — a charge still applied to those whose faith rests upon the Inspired Word rather than on the developments of the fourth century. “And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of His coming; even He, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” 2 Thess. 2: 8-10, A.R.V. The Sabbath and Sunday are emphatically rival institutions. The one has its origin with the Creator of this earth, who is also the Saviour of mankind. The other is inseparably associated with every apostasy of God’s children, from the earliest times to its most successful usurpation during the Dark Ages. Thus while history witnesses the fact that during the first two centuries of our era, the true Sabbath was held as sacred by the followers of Christ, it as clearly shows that during the succeeding two centuries its rival, with its attendant excesses, developed and so rooted itself into the Christian system as to completely baffle the overwhelming proofs of Bible and history to dislodge it.