3086.— Change of the Sabbath
Is it true that the Sabbath was changed by the pope? O. It is not the teaching of Seventh-day Adventists that the pope changed the Sabbath, only in the sense that the pope stands at the head of that system of apostasy through which the Sabbath became changed. The change was not wrought in a moment of time. It was gradual. Even from the times of the apostles, apostasy had begun in the Christian church. In the fourth chapter of Galatians Paul tells the Galatian brethren that he was afraid of them because they were observing days and months and times and years. That these were not Jewish days is evident from the fact that he tells them they had gone back to the worship of those that were no gods; and among the days of heathenism was the wild solar holiday of all pagan times. The Sabbath has been kept all the way through the Christian dispensation by a few at least in different parts of Christendom. Sunday was never kept as a holy day until we reach centuries and centuries this side of Christ. It was never called Sabbath till the year 1000. For our readers who desire to know just the truth of the change of the Sabbath, not from some bald statement of irresponsible men, but from the very facts of history itself, we note the following works: Bible Students' Library, No. 134, "The Lord's Day the Test of the Ages," giving a condensed and faithful history of the Sabbath and Sunday from creation down to the present time in the light of the patriarchal, Levitical, and Christian dispensations, showing also the change of the Sabbath. Price 10 cents. Bible Students' Library, No. 187, "Who Changed the Sabbath?" giving not only Roman Catholic authority, but Protestant authority, as does "The Lord's Day," for the facts in the matter. Price 1 cent. Apples of Gold Library, No. 45, "Historical Facts and Incidents Regarding the Sabbath and Sunday" from the earliest history onward. Price 2 cents. Every phase of the Sabbath question is covered in various publications for sale by the Pacific Press, Mountain View, Cal.