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Three Objections Concerning the Sabbath
Vol. 1, No. 11 — Nov 1999
Page
16
[The following article appeared in the excellent (free) publication Power (Vol. 8, No. 9, September 1999, p. 4), sponsored by the Southaven church of Christ, P.O. Box 128, Southaven, MS 38671.] Sabbatarians usually have at least three objections to the concept of doing away with the Sabbath.  I realize that there are more, but these are often heard during any discussion.  Many will contend, “Didn’t Constantine change the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday in A.D. 325?  This is a misunderstanding of what actually took place.  The facts are: Christians were already meeting on the Lord’s day (Sunday) from the first century.  See Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. Clement of Rome (ca. A.D. 150) writes concerning a service of God’s people.  What day does he mention?  Sunday. The Ante-Nicean fathers (those prominent in the church before A.D. 325) uniformly speak of the Lord’s day observance. Constantine did not change the worship day to Sunday.  Rather, he legally set apart the day that Christians were already using for worship as a day of rest.  Others say that the Roman Catholic Church changed the day of worship to Sunday from Saturday.  They will quote Cardinal Gibbon’s work as support for this.  But would those who take this for “gospel” also believe that the Catholic Church gave the world the Bible, as Catholics believe, and which Cardinal Gibbons holds?  The facts are that the church, as described above, always kept the Lord’s day.  The Catholic Church, who misunderstands the division of the testaments