In the history of Christianity, there are five perspectives on the "Day of Rest":
(a) Observe the Saturday Sabbath
(b) Observe the Sunday "Lord's Day" and respect the Saturday Sabbath
(c) Observe the Sunday "Lord's Day" and denigrate the Saturday Sabbath
(d) Observe the Sunday "Lord's Day" and ignore the Saturday Sabbath
(e) Consider all days equally "Days of Rest", but assemble on Sunday.
Confusions of history:
(i) Sometimes it is not clear if mention of "fasting" on Saturday is in order
to respect or to denigrate the Saturday Sabbath.
(ii) Since the Reformation, but apparently never before, Sunday is often called the "Sabbath".
(iii) Sometimes Christians accused of "sabbath-keeping" may actually have converted to Judaism.
INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he made; and he rested on the
seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God
blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had
rested from all his work which God created and made."
Genesis 2:1-3
JESUS
"And he came to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on
the Sabbath day, and stood up to read."
Luke 4:16
JESUS
"And, behold, one came and said
unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal
life? And he said unto him, if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments."
Matthew 19:16,17
JESUS
"But pray ye that your flight be
not in winter, neither on the Sabbath day."
Matthew 24: 20
Jesus instructed his disciples to pray
that they would not have to flee from Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
This flight took place in 66(?) A.D. (over 30 years after the
Crucifixion), and is prophesied to take place again in the "end time."
HIS FOLLOWERS
"And they returned, and
prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the
commandment."
Luke 23:56
PAUL
"And Paul, as his manner was went
in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures"
Acts 17:2
PAUL AND GENTILES
"And when the Jews
were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might
be preached to them the next Sabbath. And the next Sabbath came almost the
whole city together to hear the Word of God."
Acts 13:42, 44
Here we find Gentiles in a Gentile city gathering on the Sabbath. It was
not a synagogue meeting in verse 44, for it says almost the whole city came
together, verse 42 says they asked to hear the message the "next Sabbath."
AUTHOR OF EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
"There remaineth therefore a "sabbatismos", a keeping of the Sabbath, to the people of God."
Hebrews 4:9.
JOHN
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day."
Rev.1:10
If this is a day of the week, then Mark 2:28, Isa.58:13,
and Ex.20:10, show the Sabbath to be the Lord's day.
More likely, this is the "Day of the Lord" often referred to by the Prophets
as the time of God's intervention in human affairs.
JOSEPHUS
"There is not any city of the
Grecians, nor any of the Barbarians, nor any nation whatsoever, whither our
custom of resting on the seventh day hath not come!"
M'Clatchie, "Notes and Queries on China and Japan" (edited by Dennys), Vol 4, Nos 7, 8, p.100.
refers to the activities of the Jews of the Diaspora
PHILO
Declares the seventh day to be a
festival, not of this or of that city, but of the universe. M'Clatchie,
"Notes and Queries," Vol. 4, 99
EARLY CHRISTIANS
"The primitive Christians had
a great veneration for the Sabbath, and spent the day in devotion and sermons.
And it is not to be doubted but they derived this practice from the Apostles
themselves, as appears by several scriptures to the purpose."
"Dialogues on the Lord's Day," p. 189. London: 1701, By
Dr. T.H. Morer (A Church of England divine).
EARLY CHRISTIANS
"...The Sabbath was a strong tie which united them with the life of the whole people, and in
keeping the Sabbath holy they followed not only the example but also the
command of Jesus."
"Geschichte des Sonntags," pp.13, 14
2ND CENTURY CHRISTIANS
"The Gentile Christians observed also the Sabbath,"
Gieseler's "Church History," Vol.1, ch. 2, par. 30, 93.
EARLY CHRISTIANS
"The primitive Christians did keep the Sabbath of the Jews;...therefore the Christians, for a
long time together, did keep their conventions upon the Sabbath, in which some
portions of the law were read: and this continued till the time of the
Laodicean council. [364 A.D.]"
"The Whole Works" of Jeremy Taylor, Vol. IX,p. 416 (R. Heber's Edition, Vol XII, p. 416).
EARLY CHURCH
"It is certain that the
ancient [Saturday] Sabbath did remain and was observed (together with the celebration of
the [Sunday] Lord's day) by the Christians of the East Church, above three hundred
years after our Saviour's death."
"A Learned Treatise of the Sabbath," p. 77
2ND, 3RD, 4TH CENTURIES
"From the apostles' time until the council of Laodicea, which was about the
year 364, the holy observance of the Jews' Sabbath continued, as may be proved
out of many authors: yea, notwithstanding the decree of the council against
it."
"Sunday a Sabbath." John Ley, p.163. London: 1640.
EGYPT (OXYRHYNCHUS PAPYRUS) (200-250 A.D.)
"Except ye make the sabbath a real sabbath (sabbatize the Sabbath, Greek),
ye shall not see the Father."
"The Oxyrhynchus Papyri," pt,1, p.3, Logion 2, verso 4-11 (London Offices of the
Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898).
EARLY CHRISTIANS-C 3rd
"Thou shalt observe the Sabbath, on account of Him who ceased from His work of creation,
but ceased not from His work of providence: it is a rest for meditation of the
law, not for idleness of the hands."
"The Anti-Nicene Fathers," Vol 7,p. 413. From "Constitutions of the Holy Apostles,"
a document of the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
AFRICA (ALEXANDRIA) ORIGEN
"After the festival [Sunday] of the unceasing sacrifice (the crucifixion) is put the second
festival of the Sabbath, and it is fitting for whoever is righteous among the
saints to keep also the festival of the Sabbath. There remaineth therefore a
sabbatismus, that is, a keeping of the Sabbath, to the people of God (Hebrews
4:9)."
"Homily on Numbers 23," par.4, in Migne, "Patrologia Graeca," Vol. 12,cols. 749, 750.
PALESTINE TO INDIA (CHURCH OF THE EAST)
As early as A.D. 225 there existed bishoprics or conferences of
the Church of the East (Sabbath-keeping) stretching from Palestine to India.
Mingana, "Early Spread of Christianity." Vol.10, p. 460.
INDIA (BUDDHIST CONTROVERSY), 220 A.D.)
The Kushan Dynasty of North India called a famous council of Buddhist
priests at Vaisalia to bring uniformity among the Buddhist monks on the
observance of their weekly Sabbath. Some had been so impressed by the writings
of the Old Testament that they had begun to keep holy the Sabbath.
Lloyd, "The Creed of Half Japan," p. 23.
EARLY CHRISTIANS
"The seventh-day Sabbath was...solemnised by Christ, the Apostles, and primitive Christians,
till the Laodicean Council [364 A.D.] did in manner quite abolish the observations of
it."
"Dissertation on the Lord's Day," pp. 33, 34
ITALY AND EAST-C 4th
"It was the practice
generally of the Easterne Churches; and some churches of the west...For in the
Church of Millaine (Milan);...it seems the Saturday was held in a farre
esteeme... Not that the Easterne Churches, or any of the rest which observed
that day, were inclined to Iudaisme (Judaism); but that they came together on
the Sabbath day, to worship Iesus (Jesus) Christ the Lord of the Sabbath."
"History of the Sabbath" (original spelling
retained), Part 2, par. 5, pp.73, 74. London: 1636. Dr. Heylyn.
ORIENT AND MOST OF WORLD
"The ancient
Christians were very careful in the observance of Saturday, or the seventh
day...It is plain that all the Oriental churches, and the greatest part of the
world, observed the Sabbath as a festival...Athanasius likewise tells us that
they held religious assembles on the Sabbath, not because they were infected
with Judaism, but to worship Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, Epiphanius says
the same."
"Antiquities of the Christian Church," Vol.II Book XX, chap. 3, sec.1, 66. 1137, 1138.
ABYSSINIA
"In the last half of that
century St. Ambrose of Milan stated officially that the Abyssinian bishop,
Museus, had 'traveled almost everywhere in the country of the Seres' (China).
For more than seventeen centuries the Abyssinian Church continued to sanctify
Saturday as the holy day of the fourth commandment."
Ambrose, De Moribus, Brachmanorium Opera Omnia, 1132, found in Migne,
Patrologia Latina, Vol.17, pp.1131,1132.
ARABIA, PERSIA, INDIA, CHINA
"Mingana proves that in 370 A.D. Abyssinian Christianity (a Sabbath keeping church) was
so popular that its famous director, Musacus, travelled extensively in the
East promoting the church in Arabia, Persia, India and China."
"Truth Triumphant,"p.308 (Footnote 27).
ITALY-MILAN
"Ambrose, the celebrated
bishop of Milan, said that when he was in Milan he observed Saturday, but when
in Rome observed Sunday. This gave rise to the proverb, 'When you are in Rome,
do as Rome does.'"
Heylyn, "The History of the Sabbath" (1612)
SPAIN-COUNCIL ELVIRA (A.D.305)
Canon 26 of the Council of Elvira:
"As to fasting every Sabbath: Resolved, that the
error be corrected of fasting every Sabbath." This resolution of the council
is in direct opposition to the policy the church at Rome had inaugurated, that
of commanding Sabbath as a fast day in order to humiliate it and make it
repugnant to the people.
SPAIN
It is a point of further
interest to note that in north-eastern Spain near the city of Barcelona is a
city called Sabadell, in a district originaly inhabited. By a people called
both "Valldenses" and Sabbatati."
PERSIA-A.D. 335-375 (40 YEARS PERSECUTION UNDER SHAPUR II)
The popular complaint against the Christians-"They
despise our sungod, they have divine services on Saturday, they desecrate the
sacred the earth by burying their dead in it."
"Truth Triumphant," p.170.
PERSIA-A.D.335-375
"They despise our
sun-god. Did not Zoroaster, the sainted founder of our divine beliefs,
institute Sunday one thousand years ago in honour of the sun and supplant the
Sabbath of the Old Testament. Yet these Christians have divine services on
Saturday."
O'Leary, "The Syriac Church and Fathers," pp.83, 84.
COUNCIL LAODICEA - A.D.364
"Canon 16 - On Saturday the Gospels and other portions of the Scripture shall be read aloud."
"Canon 29 - Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work
on that day; but the Lord's day they shall especially honor, and as being
Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day."
Hefele's "Councils," Vol. 2, b. 6.
THE WORLD
"For although almost all churches throughout the world
celebrated the sacred mysteries (the Lord's Supper) on the Sabbath of every
week, yet the Christians of Allexandria and at Rome, on account of some
ancient tradition, refuse to do this." The footnote which accompanies the
foregoing quotation explains the use of the word "Sabbath." It says: "That is,
upon the Saturday. It should be observed, that Sunday is never called the
Sabbath by the ancient Fathers and historians."
Sacrates, "Ecclestical History," Book 5, chap. 22, p. 289.
CONSTANTINOPLE
"The people of
Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as
well as on the first day of the week, which custom is never observed at Rome
or at Alexandria."
Socrates, "Ecclesiastical History," Book 7, chap.19.
THE WORLD-AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO (NORTH AFRICA)
Augustine shows here that the Sabbath was observed in
his day "in the greater part of the Christian world," and his testimony in
this respect is all the more valuable because he himself was an earnest and
consistent Sunday-keeper.
"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers," 1st Series, Vol.1, pp. 353, 354.
POPE INNOCENT (402-417)
Pope Sylvester (314-335) was the first to order the churches to fast on Saturday,
and Pope Innocent (402-417) made it a binding law in the churches that obeyed
him, (in order to bring the Sabbath into disfavour.)
"Innocentius did ordain the Saturday or Sabbath to be always fasted."
Dr. Peter Heylyn, "History of the Sabbath, Part 2, p. 44.
5TH CENTURY CHRISTIANS
Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was
continued in the Christian church.
"Ancient Christianity Exemplified," Lyman Coleman, ch. 26, sec. 2, p. 527.
In Jerome's day (420 A.D.) the devoutest Christians did ordinary work on
Sunday.
"Treatise of the Sabbath Day," by Dr. White, Lord Bishop of Ely, p. 219.
FRANCE
"Wherefore, except Vespers and
Nocturns, there are no public services among them in the day except on
Saturday (Sabbath) and Sunday."
John Cassian, A French monk, "Institutes," Book 3, ch. 2.
AFRICA
"Augustine deplored the fact
that in two neighbouring churches in Africa one observes the seventh-day
Sabbath, another fasted on it."
Dr. Peter Heylyn, "The History of the Sabbath." p. 416.
SPAIN (400 A.D.)
"Ambrose sanctified
the seventh day as the Sabbath (as he himself says). Ambrose had great
influence in Spain, which was also observing the Saturday Sabbath."
Truth Triumphant, p. 68.
SIDONIUS (SPEAKING OF KING THEODORIC OF THE GOTHS, A.D. 454-526)
"It is a fact that it was formerly the custom in
the East to keep the Sabbath in the same manner as the Lord's day and to hold
sacred assemblies: while on the other hand, the people of the West, contending
for the Lord's day have neglected the celebration of the Sabbath."
"Apollinaries Sidonli Epistolae," lib.1, 2; Migne, 57.
CHURCH OF THE EAST
"Mingana proves that in 410 Isaac, supreme director of the Church of the East, held a world
council,-stimulated, some think, by the trip of Musacus,-attended by eastern
delegates from forty grand metropolitan divisions. In 411 he appointed a
metropolitan director for China. These churches were sanctifying the seventh
day."
EGYPT
"There are several cities and
villages in Egypt where, contrary to the usage established elsewhere, the
people meet together on Sabbath evenings, and, although they have dined
previously, partake of the mysteries."
Sozomen, "Ecclesiastical History Book 7, ch. 119
SCOTTISH CHURCH
"In this latter instance they
seemed to have followed a custom of which we find traces in the early monastic
church of Ireland by which they held Saturday to be the Sabbath on which they
rested from all their labours."
W.T. Skene, "Adamnan's Life of St. Columba" 1874, p.96.
SCOTLAND, IRELAND
"We seem to see
here an allusion to the custom, observed in the early monastic Church of
Ireland, of keeping the day of rest on Saturday, or the Sabbath."
"History of the Catholic Church in Scotland,"
Vol.1, p. 86, by Catholic histsorian Bellesheim.
SCOTLAND - COLUMBA
"Having continued
his labours in Scotland thirty-four years, he clearly and openly foretold his
death, and on Saturday, the month of June, said to his disciple Diermit: "This
day is called the Sabbath, that is the rest day, and such will it truly be to
me; for it will put an end to my labours.'"
"Butler's Lives of the Saints," Vol.1, A.D. 597, art. "St. Columba" p. 762
COLUMBA (RE DR. BUTLER'S DESCRIPTION OF HIS DEATH)
The editor of the best biography of Columba says in a
footnote: "Our Saturday. The custom to call the Lord's day Sabbath did not
commence until a thousand years later."
Adamnan's "Life of Columba" (Dublin, 1857), p. 230.
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
"It seems to
have been customary in the Celtic churches of early times, in Ireland as well
as Scotland, to keep Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of rest from
labour. They obeyed the fourth commandment literally upon the seventh day of
week."
James C. Moffatt, "The Church in Scotland," p.140.
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
"The Celts used
a Latin Bible unlike the Vulgate (R.C.) and kept Saturday as a day of rest,
with special religious services on Sunday."
Flick, "The Rise of Mediaeval Church," p. 237
ROME
Gregory I (A.D. 590-640) wrote
against "Roman citizens (who) forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day."
"Nicene and Post- Nicene Fathers," Second Series, Vol, XIII, p.13, epist. 1
ROME (POPE GREGORY I, A.D.590 TO 604)
"Gregory, bishop by the grace of God to his well-beloved sons, the Roman
citizens: It has come to me that certain men of perverse spirit have
disseminated among you things depraved and opposed to the holy faith, so that
they forbid anything to be done on the day of the Sabbath. What shall I call
them except preachers of anti-Christ?"
Epistles, b.13:1
ROME (POPE GREGORY I)
Declared that
when anti-Christ should come he would keep Saturday as the Sabbath.
"Epistles of Gregory I, "b 13, epist.1. found in "Nicene
and Post-Nicene Fathers."
"Moreover, this same Pope Gregory had issued an official pronouncement
against a section of the city of Rome itself because the Christian believers
there rested and worshipped on the Sabbath."
"Epistles of Gregory I, "b 13, epist.1. found in "Nicene
and Post-Nicene Fathers."
COUNCIL OF FRIAUL, ITALY - A.D. 791 (CANON 13)
"We command all Christians to observe the Lord's day to be held not in
honour of the past Sabbath, but on account of that holy night of the first of
the week called the Lord's day. When speaking of that Sabbath which the Jews
observe, the last day of the week, and which also our peasants observe.."
Mansi, 13, 851
PERSIA AND MESOPOTAMIA
"The hills of
Persia and the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates reechoed their songs of
praise. They reaped their harvests and paid their tithes. They repaired to their churches on the Sabbath day for the worship of God."
"Realencyclopaedie fur Protestantische Theologie und Kirche," art. "Nestorianer";
also Yule, "The Book of ser Marco Polo," Vol.2, p.409.
INDIA, CHINA, PERSIA, ETC
"Widespread
and enduring was the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath among the believers
of the Church of the East and the St. Thomas Christians of India, who never
were connected with Rome. It also was maintained among those bodies which
broke off from Rome after the Council of Chalcedon namely, the Abyssinians,
the Jacobites, the Maronites, and the Armenians,"
Schaff-Herzog, The New Enclopadia of Religious Knowledge," art.
"Nestorians"; also Realencyclopaedie fur Protestantische Theologie und
Kirche," art. "Nestorianer."
COUNCIL OF LIFTINAE, BELGIUM-A.D.745 (ATTENDED BY BONIFACE)
"The third allocution of this council warns against
the observance of the Sabbath, referring to the decree of the council of
Laodicea."
Dr. Hefele, Counciliengfesch, 3, 512, sec. 362
CHINA-A.D.781
In A.D. 781 the famous
China Monument was inscribed in marble to tell of the growth of Christianity
in China at that time. The inscription, consisting of 763 words, was unearthed
in 1625 near the city of Changan and now stands in the "Forest of Tablets,"
Changan. The following extract from the stone shows that the Sabbath was
observed:
"On the seventh day we offer sacrifices, after having purified our hearts,
and received absolution for our sins. This religion, so perfect and so
excellent, is difficult to name, but it enlightens darkness by its brilliant
precepts."
Christianity in China, M. I'Abbe Huc, Vol. I, ch.2, pp. 48, 49
BULGARIA
"Bulgaria in the early season of its
evangelization had been taught that no work should be performed on the
Sabbath."
Responsa Nicolai Papae I and
Con-Consulta Bulllllgarorum, Responsum 10, found in Mansi, Sacrorum Concilorum
Nova et Amplissima Colectio, Vol.15; p. 406; also Hefele, Conciliengeschicte,
Vol.4, sec. 478
BULGARIA
Pope Nicholas I, in answer to letter from Bogaris, ruling prince of Bulgaria.
"Ques. 6-Bathing is allowed on Sunday.
Ques. 10-One is to cease from work on Sunday, but not also on the Sabbath."
Hefele, 4,346- 352, sec. 478
The Bulgarians had been accustomed to rest on the Sabbath. Pope Nicholas
writes against this practice.
CONSTANTINOPLE
Photius, Patriarch of
Constantinople {in counter-synod that deposed Nicolas}, thus accused Papacy).
"Against the canons, they induced the Bulgarians to fast on the Sabbath."
Photius, vonKard, Hergenrother, 1, 643
ATHINGIANS
Cardinal Hergenrother says
that they stood in intimate relation with Emperor Michael II (821-829) and
testifies that they observed the Sabbath.
Kirchengeschichte, 1, 527
INDIA, ABYSSINIA
"Widespread and
enduring was the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath among the believers of
the Church of the East and the St. Thomas Christians of India. It was also
maintained by the Abyssinians.
BULGARIA
"Pope Nicholas I, in the
ninth century, sent the ruling prince of Bulgaria a long document saying in it
that one is to cease from work on Sunday, but not on the Sabbath. The head of
the Greek Church, offended at the interference of the Papacy, declared the
Pope ex-communicated."
Truth Triumphant, p. 232
SCOTLAND
"They worked on Sunday, but kept Saturday in a Sabbatical manner."
A history of Scotland from the Roman Occupation, Vol. I, p.96. Andrew Lang
CHURCH OF THE EAST - Kurdistan
"The Nestorians eat no pork and keep the Sabbath. They believe in neither auricular
confession nor purgatory."
Schaff-Herzog, "The New
Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge," art. "Nestorians."
WALDENSES
"And because they observed
no other day of rest but the Sabbath days, they called them Insabathas, as
much as to say, as they observed no Sabbath."
Luther's "Fore-Runners" (original spelling), PP. 7, 8
WALDENSES
Roman Catholic writers try
to evade the apostolic origin of the Waldenses, so as to make it appear that
the Roman is the only apostolic church, and that all others are later
novelties. And for this reason they try to make out that the Waldenses
originated with Peter Waldo of the twelfth century.
"Some Protestants, on this occasion, have fallen into the snare that was
set for them...It is absolutely false, that these churches were ever found by
Peter Waldo...it is a pure forgery."
Peter Allix, Ancient Church of Piedmont, pp.192, Oxford: 1821
WALDENSES
"It is not true, that Waldo
gave this name to the inhabitants of the valleys: they were called Waldenses,
or Vaudes, before his time, from the valleys in which they dwelt."
Peter Allix, Ancient Church of Piedmont, p.182, Oxford: 1821
WALDENSES
On the other hand, he "was
called Valdus, or Waldo, because he received his religious notions from the
inhabitants of the valleys."
History of the Christian Church, William Jones, Vol II, p.2
SCOTLAND
They held that Saturday was properly
the Sabbath on which they abstained from work.
"Celtic Scotland," Vol. 2, p. 350
SCOTLAND
"They worked on Sunday, but
kept Saturday in a sabbatical manner... These things Margaret abolished."
A History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation," Vol.1, p. 96.
SCOTLAND
"It was another custom of
theirs to neglect the reverence due to the Lord's day, by devoting themselves
to every kind of worldly business upon it, just as they did upon other days.
That this was contrary to the law, she (Queen Margaret) proved to them as well
by reason as by authority. 'Let us venerate the Lord's day,' said she,
'because of the resurrection of our Lord, which happened upon that day, and
let us no longer do servile works upon it; bearing in mind that upon this day
we were redeemed from the slavery of the devil. The blessed Pope Gregory
affirms the same.'"
Life of Saint Margaret, Turgot, p. 49 (British Museum Library)
SCOTLAND
"Her next point was that they did not duly
reverence the Lord's day, but in this latter instance they seemed to have
followed a custom of which we find traces in the early Church of Ireland, by
which they held Saturday to be the Sabbath on which they rested from all their
labours."
Historian Skene commenting upon the work of Queen Margaret.
Skene, "Celtic Scotland," Vol.2, p. 349
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
"In this matter the
Scots had perhaps kept up the traditional usage of the ancient Irish Church
which observed Saturday instead of Sunday as the day of rest."
Barnett, "Margaret of Scotland: Queen and Saint," p.97. (T. Ratcliffe
Barnett on the fervent Catholic queen of Scotland who in 1060 was
first to attempt the ruin of Columba's brethren)
COUNCIL OF CLERMONT
"During the first
crusade, Pope Urban II decreed at the council of Clermont (A.D.1095) that the
Sabbath be set aside in honour of the Virgin Mary."
History of the Sabbath, p.672
CONSTANTINOPLE
"Because you observe
the Sabbath with the Jews and the Lord's Day with us, you seem to imitate with
such observance the sect of Nazarenes."
Migne, "Patrologia Latina," Vol. 145, p.506; also Hergenroether, "Photius," Vol. 3,
p.746. (The Nazarenes were a Christian denomination.)
GREEK CHURCH
"The observance of
Saturday is, as everyone knows, the subject of a bitter dispute between the
Greeks and the Latins."
Neale, "A History of the
Holy Eastern Church," Vol 1, p. 731. (Referring to the separation of the Greek
Church from the Latin in 1054)
LOMBARDY
"Traces of Sabbath-keepers are found
in the times of Gregory I, Gregory VII, and in the twelfth century in
Lombardy."
Strong's Cyclopaedia, 1, 660
WALDENSES
Robinson gives an account
of some of the Waldenses of the Alps, who were called Sabbati, Sabbatati,
Insabbatati, but more frequently Inzabbatati.
"One says they were so named
from the Hebrew word Sabbath, because they kept the Saturday for the Lord's
day."
General History of the Baptist Denomination, Vol.II, P. 413
SPAIN (Alphonse of Aragon)
"Alphonse,
king of Aragon, etc., to all archbishopss, bishops and to all others...'We
command you that heretics, to wit, Waldenses and Insabbathi, should be
expelled away from the face of God and from all Catholics and ordered to
depart from our kingdom.'"
Marianse, Praefatio in
Lucam Tudensem, found in "Macima Gibliotheca Veterum Patrum," Vol.25,
p.190
HUNGARY FRANCE, ENGLAND, ITALY, GERMANY.
(Referring to the Sabbath-keeping Pasagini) "The spread of heresy at this
time is almost incredible. From Bulgaria to the Ebro, from northern France to
the Tiber, everywhere we meet them. Whole countries are infested, like Hungary
and southern France; they abound in many other countries, in Germany, in
Italy, in the Netherlands and even in England they put forth their efforts."
Dr. Hahn, "Geschichte der Ketzer." 1, 13, 14
WALDENSES
"Among the documents. we
have by the same peoples, an explanation of the Ten Commandments dated by
Boyer 1120. Observance of the Sabbath by ceasing from worldly labours, is
enjoined."
Blair, History of the Waldenses, Vol.1,
p. 220
WALES
"There is much evidence that
the Sabbath prevailed in Wales university until A.D.1115, when the first Roman
bishop was seated at St. David's. The old Welslh Sabbath-keeping churches did
not even then altogether bow the knee to Rome, but fled to their hiding
places."
Lewis, "Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and America," Vol.1, p.29
FRANCE
"For twenty years Peter de
Bruys stirred southern France. He especialy emphasised a day of worship that
was recognized at that time amaong the Celtic churches of the British Isles,
among the Paulicians, and in the great Church of the East namely, the the
seventh day of the fourth commandment."
PASAGINI
The papal author,
Bonacursus, wrote the following against the "Pasagaini": "Not a few, but many
know what are the errors of those who are called Pasaagini...First, they teach
that we should obey the Sabbath. Furthermore, to increase their error, they
condemn and reject all the church Fathers, and the whole Roman Church."
D'Achery, Spicilegium I,f.211-214; Muratory, Antiq. med.
aevi.5, f.152, Hahn, 3, 209
WALDENSES
"They say that the blessed Pope
Sylvester was the Antichrist of whom mention is made in the Epistles of SSt.
Paul as having been the son of perdition.[They also say] that the keeping of
the Sabbath ought to take place."
Ecclesiastical
History of the Ancient Churches ofPiedmont," p.169 (by prominent Roman
Catholic author writing about Waldenses)
FRANCE (Waldenses)
To destroy
completely these heretics Pope Innocent III sent Dominican inquistors into
France, and also crusaders, promising "a plenary remission of all sins, to
those who took on them the crusade...against the albigenses."
Catholic Encyclopaedia, Vol.XII, art."Raymond VI," p. 670
WALDENSES OF FRANCE
"The
inquisitors...[declare] that the sign of a Vaudois, deemed worthy of death,
was that he followed Christ and sought to obey the commandments fo God."
History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages," H.C.Les, vol.1
FRANCE
Thousands of God's people were
tortured to death by the Inquisition, buried alive, burned to death, or hacked
to pieces by the crusaders. While devastating the city of Biterre the soldiers
asked the Catholic leaders how they should know who were heretics; "Slay them
all, for the Lord knows who is His."
History of the Inquisition, pp. 96
FRANCE - KING LOUIS IX, 1229
Published
the statute "Cupientes" in which he charges himself to clear southern France
from heretics as the Sabbath-keepers were called.
WALDENSES OF FRANCE
"The heresy of
the Vaudois, or poor people of Lyons, is of great antiquity, for some say that
it has been continued down ever since the time of Pope Sylvester; and others,
ever since that of the apostles."
The Roman Inquisitor, Reinerus Sacho, writing about 1230
FRANCE - Council Toulouse, 1229
Canons against Sabbath-keepers:
"Canon 3. - The lords of the different districts shall
have the villas, houses and woods diligently searched, and the hiding-places
of the heretics destroyed.
"Canon 14. - Lay members are not allowed to possess the books of either the
Old or the New Testaments."
Hefele, 5, 931, 962
EUROPE
"The Paulicians, Petrobusinas,
Passaginians, Waldenses, Insabbatati were great Sabbath-keeping bodies of
Europe down to 1250 A.D."
PASAGINIANS
Dr. Hahn says that if the
Pasaginians referred to the 4th Commandment to support the Sabbath, the Roman
priests answered, "The Sabbath symbolised the eternal rest of the saints."
MONGOLIA
"The Mongolian conquest did
not injure the Church of the East. (Sabbath-keeping.) On the contrary, a
number of the Mongolian princes and a larger number of Mongolian queens were
members of this church."
WALDENSES
"That we are to worship one only
God, who is able to help us, and not the Saints departed; that we ought to
keep holy the Sabbath day."
Luther's Fore-runners," p. 38
INSABBATI
"For centuries evangelical
bodies, especially the Waldenses, were called Insabbati because of
Sabbath-keeping."
Gui, Manueld' Inquisiteur
BOHEMIA, 1310 (Modern Czechoslovakia)
"In 1310, two hundred years before Luther's theses, the Bohemian brethern
constituted onefourth of the population of Bohemia, and that they were in
touch with the Waldenses who abounded in Austria, Lombardy,. Bohemia, north
Germany, Thuringia, Brandenburg, and Moravia. Erasmus pointed out how strictly
Bohemian Waldenses kept the seventh day Sabbath."
Armitage, "A History of the Baptists," p.313; Cox, "The Literature of
the Sabbath Question," vol. 2, pp. 201-202
NORWAY
Then, too, in the "Catechism"
that was used during the fourteenth century, the Sabbath commandment read
thus; "Thou shalt not forget to keep the seventh day."
This is quoted from "Documents and Studies Concerning the History of
the Lutheran Catechism in the Nordish Churches," p.89. Christiania 1893
NORWAY
"Also the priests have caused
the people to keep Saturdays as Sundays."
Theological Periodicals for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norway,
Vol.1, p.184 Oslo
ENGLAND, HOLLAND, BOHEMIA
"We wrote of the Sabbatarians in Bohemia, Transylvania, England and Holland between 1250
and 1600 A.D."
Truth Triumphant, Wilkinson, p.309
BOHEMIA
"Erasmus testifies that even as late
as about 1500 these Bohemians not only kept the seventh day scrupulously, but
also were called Sabbatarians."
Cox, "The
Literature of the Sabbath Question," Vol.2, pp.201, 202 "Truth Triumphant,"
p.264
NORWAY
(Church Council held at Bergin,
August 22,1435) "The first matter concerned a keeping holy of Saturday. It had
come to the earth of the archbishop that people in different places of the
kingdom had ventured the keeping holy of Saturday. It is strictly forbidden - it
is stated - in the Church Law, for any one to keep or to adopt holy-days,
outside of those which the pope, archbishop, or bishops appoint."
The History of the Norwegian Church under Catholicism,
R. Keyser, Vol.II, p. 488.Oslo: 1858
NORWAY, 1435 (Catholic Provincial Council
at Bergin) "We are informed that some people in different districts of the
kingdom, have adopted and observed Saturday-keeping. It is severely
forbidden - in holy church canon - one and all to observe days excepting those
which the holy Pope archbishop, or the bishops command. Saturday-keeping must
under no circumstances be permitted hereafter further than the church canon
commands. Therfore, we counsil all the friends of God throughout all Norway
who want to be obedient towards the holy church to let this evil of
Saturday-keeping alone; and the rest we forbid under penalty of severe church
punishment to keep Saturday holy."
Dip. Norveg., 7, 397
NORWAY, 1436
(Church Conference at Oslo) "It is forbidden under the same penalty to keep Saturday holy by
refraining from labour."
History of the Norwegian Church, p.401
FRANCE - Waldenses
"Louis XII, King
of France (1498-1515), being informed by the enemies of the Waldense
inhabiting a part of the province of Province, that several heinous crimes
were laid to their account, sent the Master of Requests, and a certain doctor
of the Sorbonne, to make inquiry into this matter. On their return they
reported that they had visited all the parishes, but could not discover any
traces of those crimes with which they were charged. On the contrary, they
kept the Sabbath day, observed the ordinance of baptism, according to the
primitive church, instructed their children in the articles of the Christian
faith, and the commandmnets of God. The King having heard the report of his
commisioners, said with an oath that they were better men than himself or his
people."
History of the Christian Church, Vol.II,
pp. 71, 72, third edition. London: 1818
INDIA
"Separated from the Western
world for a thousand years, they were naturally ignorant of many novelties
introduced by the councils and decrees of the Lateran. 'We are Christians, and
not idolaters,' was their expressive reply when required to do homage to the
image of the Virgin Mary.'"
ENGLAND
"In the reign of Elizabeth, it
occurred to many conscientious and independent thinkers (as it previously had
done to some Protestants in Bohemia) that the fourth commandment required of
them the observance, not of the first, but of the specified 'seventh' day of
the week."
Chambers' Cyclopaedia, article "Sabbath," Vol. 8, p. 462, 1537
RUSSIA (Council, Moscow, 1593)
"The accused [Sabbath-keepers] were summoned; they openly acknowledged the new
faith, and defended the same. The most eminent of them, the secretary of
state, Kuritzyn, Ivan Maximow, Kassian, archimandrite of the Fury Monastery of
Novgorod, were condemned to death, and burned publicly in cages, at Moscow;
Dec. 17,1503."
H.Sternberfi, "Geschichte der Juden" (Leipsig, 1873), pp.117-122
SWEDEN
"This zeal for
Saturday-keeping continued for a long time: even little things which might
strengthen the practice of keeping Saturday were punished."
Bishop Anjou, "Svenska Kirkans Historia after
Motetthiers, Upsala
LICHENSTEIN FAMILY
(estates in
Austria, Bohemia, Morovia, Hungary. Lichenstein in the Rhine Valley wasn't
their country until the end of the 7th century). "The Sabbatarians teach that
the outward Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, still must be observed, They say that
Sunday is the Pope's invention."
Refutation of Sabbath, by Wolfgang Capito, published 1599
BOHEMIA (the Bohemian Brethren)
"I find from a passage in Erasmus that at the early period of the
Reformation when he wrote, there were Sabbatarians in Bohemia, who not only
kept the seventh day, but were said to be...scrupulous in resting on it."
Literature of the Sabbath Question, R. Cox, Vol. II, pp. 201, 202
HISTORIAN'S LIST OF CHURCHES (16th Century)
"Sabbatarians, so called because they reject the
observance of the Lord's day as not commanded in Scripture, they consider the
Sabbath alone to be holy, as God rested on that day and commanded to keep it
holy and to rest on it."
A. Ross
GERMANY
-Dr. Esk (while refuting the Reformers) "However, the church has transferred the observance from Saturday
to Sunday by virtue of her own power, without Scripture."
Dr. Esk's "Enchiridion," 1533, pp.78,79
PRINCES OF LICHTENSTEIN (Europe)
About the hear 1520 many of these Sabbath-keepers found shelter on the
estate of Lord Leonhardt of Lichtensein held to the observance of the true
Sabbath."
J.N.Andrews, History of the Sabbath, p. 649, ed.
INDIA
"The famous Jesuit, Francis
Xavier, called for the Inquisition, which was set up in Goa, India, in 1560,
to check the 'Jewish wickedness' (Sabbath-keeping)."
Adeney, "The Greek and Eastern Churches," p.527, 528
NORWAY-1544
"Some of you, contrary to
the warning, keep Saturday. You ought to be severely punished. Whoever shall
be found keeping Saturday, must pay a fine of ten marks."
History of King Christian the Third," Niels Krag and S. Stephanius.
AUSTRIA
"Sabatarians now exist in Austria."
Luther, "Lectures on Genesis," A.D.1523-27
ABYSSINIA--A.D. 1534
(Abyssinian legate at court of Lisbon) "It is not therefore, in imitation of the Jews, but
in obedience to Christ and His holy apostles, that we observe the day."
Gedde's "Church History of Ethiopia," pp. 87,8
DR. MARTIN LUTHER
"God blessed the
Sabbath and sanctified it to Himself. God willed that this command concerning
the Sabbath should remain. He willed that on the seventh day the word should
be preached."
Commentary on Genesis, Vol.1, pp.138-140
BAPTISTS
"Some have suffered torture
because they would not rest when others kept Sunday, for they declared it to
be the holiday and law of Antichrist."
Sebastian Frank (A.D. 1536)
FINLAND-Dec. 6,1554
(King Gustavus
Vasa I, of Sweden's letter to the people of Finland) "Some time ago we heard
that some people in Finland had fallen into a great error and observed the
seventh day, called Saturday."
State Library at Helsingfors, Reichsregister, Vom J., 1554, Teil B.B. leaf 1120,
pp.175-180a
SWITZERLAND
"The observance of the
Sabbath is a part of the moral law. It has been kept hholy since the beginning
of the world."
Ref. Noted Swiss writer, R. Hospinian, 1592
HOLLAND AND GERMANY
Barbara of
Thiers, who was executed in 1529, declared: "God has commanded us to rest on
the seventh day." Another martyr, Christina Tolingerin, is mentioned thus:
"Concerning holy days and Sundays, she said: 'In six days the Lord made the
world, on the seventh day he rested. The other holy days have been instituted
by popes, cardinals, and archbishops.'"
Martyrology of the Churches of Christ, commonly called Baptists,
during the era of the Reformation, from the Dutch of T.J. Van Bright, London,
1850,1, pp.113-4.
ENGLAND-1618
"At last for teaching only five
days in the week, and resting upon Saturday she was carried to the new prison
in Maiden Lane, a place then appointed for the restraint of several other
persons of different opinions from the Church of England. Mrs. Traske lay
fifteen or sixteen years a prisoner for her opinion about the Saturday
Sabbath."
Pagitt's "Heresiography." p.196
ENGLAND-1668
"Here in England are
about none or ten churches that keep the Sabbath, besides many scattered
disciples, who have eminently preserved."
Stennet's letters, 1668 and 1670. Cox, Sab.,1, 268
HUNGARY, RUMANIA
"But as they
rejected Sunday and rested on the Sabbath, Prince Sigmond Bathory ordered
their persecution. Pechi advanced to position of chancellor of state and next
in line to throne of Transylvania. He studied his Bible, and composed a number
of hymns, mostly in honour of the Sabbath. Pechi was arrested and died in
1640.
SWEDEN AND FINLAND
"We can trace
these opinions over almost the whole extent of Sweden of that day-from Finland
and northern Sweden. "In the district of Upsala the farmers kept Saturday in
place of Sunday. "About the year 1625 this religious tendency became so
pronounced in these countries that not only large numbers of the common people
began to keep Saturday as the rest day, but even many priests did the same."
History of the Swedish Church, Vol.I, p.256
MUSCOVIT RUSSIAN CHURCH
"They solemnize Saturday (the old Sabbath).
Samuel Purchase- "His Pilgrims." Vol. I, p. 350
INDIA (Jacobites)-1625
"They kept Saturday holy. They have solemn service on Saturdays."
Pilgrimmes, Part 2, p.1269
AMERICA-1664
"Stephen Mumford, the first Sabbath-keeper in America come from London in 1664."
History of the Seventh-day Baptist Gen. Conf. by Jas. Bailey, pp. 237,
238. [The 7th-day Baptist continue to exist, and now have their home office in Jaynesville, Wisconsin.]
AMERICA-1671 (Seventh-day Baptists)
"Broke from Baptist Church in order to keep Sabbath."
See Bailey's History, pp. 9,10
ENGLAND
Charles I, 1647 (when querying the Parliament Commissioners)
"For it will not be found in Scripture where
Saturday is no longer to be kept, or turned into the Sunday wherefore it must
be the Church's authority that changed the one and instituted the other."
Cox, "Sabbath Laws," p.333
ENGLAND-John Milton
"It will surely
be far safer to observe the seventh day, according to express commandment of
God, than on the authority of mere human conjecture to adopt the first."
Sab. Lit. 2, 46-54
ENGLAND
"Upon the publication of the
'Book of Sports' in 1618 a violent controversy arose among English divines on
two points: first, whether the Sabbath of the fourth commandment was in force;
and, secondly, on what ground the first day of the week was entitled to be
observed as 'the Sabbath.'"
Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, art. "Sabbatarians." p.602
ETHIOPIA-1604
Jesuits tried to induce
the Abyssinian church to accept Roman Catholicism. They influenced King
Zadenghel to propose to submit to the Papacy (A.D.1604). "Prohibiting all his
subjects, upon severe penalties, to observe Saturday any longer."
Gedde's "Church History of Ethiopia." p.311, also
Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," ch. 47
BOHEMIA, MORAVIA, SWITZERLAND, GERMANY
"one of the counsellors and lords of the court was John Gerendi, head of
the Sabbatarians, a people who did not keep Sunday, but Saturday."
Lamy, "The History of Socinianism." p. 60
TELEGRAPH PRINT, NAPIER
The inscription on the monument
over the grave of Dr. Peter Chamberlain, physician to King James and Queen
Anne, King Charles I and Queen Katherine says that Dr. Chamberlain was "a
Christian keeping the commandment of God and the faith of Jesus, being
baptised about the year 1648, and keeping the seventh day for the Sabbath
above thirty-two years."
ABYSSINIA
"The Jacobites assembled on the
Sabbath day, before the Domical day, in the temple, and kept that day, as do
also the Abyssinians as we have seen from the confession of their faith by the
Ethiopian king Claudius."
Abundacnus, 'Historia Jacobatarum,"p.118-9 (18th Century)
RUMANIA, 1760 (and what is today) YUGOSLAVIA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
"Joseph II's edict of tolerance did not apply to
the Sabbatarians, some of whom again lost all of their possessions."
Jahrgang 2, 254
"Catholic priests aided by soldiers forcing them to accept Romanism
nominally, and compelling the remainder to labour on the Sabbath and to attend
church on Sunday,-these were the methods employed for two hundred fifty years
to turn the Sabbatarians.
GERMANY-Tennhardt of Nuremberg
"He holds strictly to the doctrine of the Sabbath, because it is one of the ten
commandments."
Bengel's "Leban und Wirken," Burk, p.579
He himself says: "It cannot be shown that Sunday has taken the place of the
Sabbath (P.366). the Lord God has sanctified the last day of the week.
Antichrist, on the other hand, has appointed the first day of the week."
Ki Auszug aus Tennhardt's "Schriften," P.49 (printed 1712)
BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA (Today Czechoslovakia).
Their history from 1635 to 1867 is thus
described by Adolf Dux: "The condition of the Sabbatarians was dreadful. Their
books and writings had to be delivered to the Karlsburg Consistory to becomes
the spoils of flames."
Aus Ungarn, pp. 289-291. Leipzig, 1850
HOLLAND AND GERMANY
"Dr. Cornelius
stated of East Friesland, that when Baptists were numerous, "Sunday and
holidays were not observed," (they were Sabbath-keepers).
Der Anteil Ostfrieslands and Ref. Muenster," 1852, pp l29, 34
MORAVIA-Count Zinzendorf
In 1738
Zinzendorf wrote of his keeping the Sabbath thus: "That I have employed the
Sabbath for rest many years already, and our Sunday for the proclamation of
the gospel."
Budingsche Sammlung, Sec. 8, p. 224.
Leipzig, 1742
AMERICA, 1741
-Moravian Brethren
(after Zinzendorf arrived from Europe). "As a special instance it deserves to
be noticed that he is resolved with the church at Bethlehem to observe the
seventh day as rest day.
Id., pp. 5, 1421,
1422
AMERICA
But before Zinzendorf and the
Moravians at Bethlehem thus began the observance of the Sabbath and prospered,
there was a small body of German Sabbath-keepers in Pennsylvania.
See Rupp's "History of Religious Denominations in the
United States," pp.109- 123
RUSSIA
"But the majority moved to the Crimea
and the Caucasus, where they remain true to their doctrine in spite of
persecution until this present time. The people call them Subotniki, or
Sabbatarians,"
Sternberg, "Geschichte der Juden in
Polen," p.124
CHINA
"At this time Hung prohibited
the use of opium, and even tobacco, and all intoxicating drinks, and the
Sabbath was religiously observed."
The Ti-Ping
Revolution," by Llin-Le, and officer among them, Vol. 1, pp.36-48, 84
"The seventh day is most religiously and strictly observed. The Taiping Sabbath is kept upon our Saturday."
P. 319
CHINA
"The Taipings when asked why
they observed the seventh day Sabbath, replied that it was, first, because the
Bible taught it, and, second, because their ancestors observed it as a day of
worship."
A Critical History of the Sabbath and the Sunday.
INDIA AND PERSIA
"Besides, they
maintain the solemn observance of Christian worship throughout our Empire, on
the seventh day."
Christian Researches in Asia, p.143
DENMARK
"This agitation was not
without its effect. Pastor M.A. Sommer began observing the seventh day, and
wrote in his church paper. "Indovet Kristendom" No.5,1875 an impressive
article about the true Sabbath. In a letter to Elder John G.Matteson, he says:
"Among the Baptists here in Denmark there is a great agitation regarding
the Sabbath commandment..However, I am probably the only preacher in Denmark
who stands so near to the Adventists and who for many years has proclaimed
Christ's second coming."
Advent Tidente, May, 1875
SWEDEN (Baptists)
"We will now
endeavour to show that the sanctification of the Sabbath has its foundation
and its origin in a law which God at creation itself established for the whole
world, and as a consequence thereof is binding on all men in all ages."
Evangelisten (The Evangelist). Stockholm, May 30 to
August 15,1863 (organ of the Swedish Baptist Church)
AMERICA, 1845
"Thus we see Dan. 7,
25, fulfilled, the little horn changing 'times and laws. 'Therefore it appears
to me that all who keep the first day for the Sabbath are Pope's
Sunday-keepers and God's Sabbath-breakers."
Elder T.M. Preble, Feb.13, 1845
AMERICA (Seventh-day Adventists and Sabbatarian Church of God)
After the "Great Disappointment" of 1844, Adventists encountered 7th-day
Baptists, and learned of the Sabbath. The Sabbatarian Adventists became
two groups. Those who believed Ellen G. White to be a prophetess became
the Seventh-day Adventists. The
other group became known as the Sabbatarian Church of God. Both groups
have propagated widely the keeping of the 7th-day Sabbath. [ABCOG is an
independent Sabbatarian Church of God congregation.]
Coltheart's original version gratefully obtained from www.tagnet.org/llt/sabcen.htm
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