Error In Catholicism

Who Changed the Sabbath from the 7th Day to the 1st Day?

This is a question we never even think about asking today. Because it has been for centuries that we as a Church gather on Sundays.  As part of our research and study, we thought it would be worth the time to consider what the “Convert’s Catechism” says about this matter. Now, what is “Convert’s Catechism”, you might ask. The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine has been in demand for many years. It contains the often-quoted questions and answers regarding why the change of solemnity was made from Saturday to Sunday. It documents the fact that the Catholic Church made the change. Here are some of the questions and answers found in this book.

What day is the Sabbath day?

Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.

Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?

The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday, because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.

By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?

The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her.

What does the Third Commandment command?

The Third Commandment commands us to sanctify Sunday as the Lord’s Day.

As we see Catholic Church is pretty honest about their part in changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.

The following are some quotes from Catholic scholars attesting to this:

“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does NOT support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday.  Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.”-Priest Brady in an address reported in the Ness, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903.

“Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles.  From beginning to end of Scripture, there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.” –Catholic Press, Sydney Australia, August 1900.

“All of us believe many things in regard to religion that we do not find in the Bible. For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday.  We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday.  Today, most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the (Roman Catholic) church outside the Bible.”-Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947 article “To Tell You the Truth.

“I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy.  There is no such law in the Bible.  It is a law of the holy Catholic church alone.  The Bible says ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy’.  The Catholic Church says: ‘No!  By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. ‘  And lo!  The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic church.”-Father T. Enright, C.S.S.R of the Redemptoral College, Kansas City, in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884 printed in History of the Sabbath pg. 802.

“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the church ever did, happened in the first century.  The Holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday.  ‘The Day of the Lord’ was chosen not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) church’s sense of its own power.  People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th day adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” –St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.

“It was the Catholic church which…has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Therefore the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.” –Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About The Protestantism of Today, p. 213.

“For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible.” –Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947, p. 9, Article: “To Tell You the Truth.”

“Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship.  The Catholic church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority.  If Protestantism wants to base its teaching only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday.”-Rome’s Challenge, www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003.

“Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath  But this theory is now entirely abandoned.  It is now commonly held that God simply gave His church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable for holy days.  The (Roman Catholic) Church chose Sunday, the 1st day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days.” –John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, 1936 edition Vol. 1, pg. 51.

“Unquestionably, the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the sabbatical observance of Sunday is known to have been ordained is the Sabbatical edict of Constantine, AD 321.- Chambers Encyclopedia, Article “Sunday”.

“Where are we told in Scripture that we are to keep the first day at all?  We are commanded to keep the seventh, but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day.  The reason why we keep the 1st day of the week holy instead of the 7th is for the same reason that we observe many other things.  Not because of the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it.”-Isaac William, Plain Sermons on the Catechism, Vol.1, pp. 336, 338.

“… you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.” –The Faith of Our Fathers, by James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, 88th edition, page 89. Originally published in 1876, republished and Copyright 1980 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., pages 72-73.

“But since Saturday, NOT Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn’t it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not from the Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday?”-Father John A. O’Brien, The Faith of Millions, pp. 400-401.

“The [Roman Catholic] Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant.” –The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4.

The following is what Constantine’s law required of the people… “Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by Heaven.”

Not long after Constantine’s first Sunday Law of A.D. 321, the Roman church made it official church doctrine by declaring it was a ‘Jewish day’. This church doctrine demanded all Christians to break Commandment #4 by working on Sabbath. “Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [in the original: sabbato, shall not be idle on the Sabbath], but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honour, and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out [anathema — excommunicated] from Christ.” Council of Laodicea, c. A.D. 337, Canon 29, quoted in C.J. Hefele’s A History of the Councils of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 316. – Also in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1899 Edition, Vol. XXIII, page 654.

“The Sun was a foremost god with heathen-dom…The sun has worshippers at this hour in Persia and other lands…. There is, in truth, something royal, kingly about the sun, making it a fit emblem of Jesus, the Sun of Justice. Hence the church in these countries would seem to have said, to ‘Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.’ And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus.” –William Gildea, Doctor of Divinity, The Catholic World, March, 1894, p. 809.

“The retention of the old pagan name of Dies Solis, for Sunday is, in a great measure, owing to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his subjects – pagan and Christian alike – as the ‘venerable’ day of the sun.” –Arthur P. Stanley, History of the Eastern Church, p. 184.

“When St. Paul repudiated the works of the law, he was not thinking of the Ten Commandments, which are as unchangeable as God Himself is, which God could not change and still remain the infinitely holy God.”-Our Sunday Visitor, Oct. 7, I951.

There are just a few things to chew on. The Sabbath was changed by the Roman Catholic Church 300 years after Christ’s death and resurrection. Do you think that all of the other Sunday keeping churches realize they are practicing a major change or doctrine of the Catholic church by observing Sunday as the Sabbath? 

“If Protestants would follow the Bible, they would worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church.” –Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the Cardinal, in a letter dated February 10, 1920.

“The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church.” –Monsignor Louis Segur, “Plain Talk about the Protestantism of Today”, p. 213.

What Important Question Does the Papacy Ask Protestants?

Protestants have repeatedly asked the papacy, “How could you dare to change God’s law?” But the question posed to Protestants by the Catholic Church is even more penetrating.

“You will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. Changed! but by whom? Who has authority to change an express commandment of Almighty God? When God has spoken and said, Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day, who shall dare to say, Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day; but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead? This is a most important question, which I know not how you can answer. You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet in so important a matter as the observance of one day in seven as a holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the ten commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible and the Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered.” –Library of Christian Doctrine: Why Don’t You Keep Holy the Sabbath-Day? (London: Burns and Oates, Ltd.), pp. 3, 4.

“There is but one church on the face of the earth which has the power, or claims power, to make laws binding on the conscience, binding before God, binding under penalty of hell-fire. For instance, the institution of Sunday. What right has any other church to keep this day? You answer by virtue of the third commandment (the papacy did away with the 2nd regarding the worship of graven images, and called the 4th the 3rd), which says ‘Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.’ But Sunday is not the Sabbath. Any schoolboy knows that Sunday is the first day of the week. I have repeatedly offered one thousand dollars to anyone who will prove by the Bible alone that Sunday is the day we are bound to keep, and no one has called for the money. It was the holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday, the seventh day, to Sunday, the first day of the week.” – T. Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture delivered in 1893.

“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.” –C. F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, in answer to a letter regarding the change of the Sabbath, November 11, 1895.

“Tradition, not Scripture, is the rock on which the church of Jesus Christ is built.” –Adrien Nampon, Catholic Doctrine as Defined by the Council of Trent, p. 157.

“If we consulted the Bible only, we should still have to keep holy the Sabbath Day, that is, Saturday, with the Jews, instead of Sunday; …” –A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, by Rev. John Laux M.A., Benzinger Brothers, 1936 edition, Part 1.

“The Sabbath was Saturday, not Sunday. The Church altered the observance of the Sabbath to the observance of Sunday. Protestants must be rather puzzled by the keeping of Sunday when God distinctly said, ‘Keep holy the Sabbath Day.’ The word Sunday does not come anywhere in the Bible, so, without knowing it they are obeying the authority of the Catholic Church.” –Canon Cafferata, The Catechism Explained, p. 89.

I think this is the greatest deception that happened to the church today.  We blatantly disobey the commandments of the Lord.

James 2:10 For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

 

Did the early church keep the 7th day Biblical Sabbath?

This is a question many Christians ask today, isn’t it? Teachers of our age are quick to conclude this topic, most likely dismantling the truth with their own coined doctrines.  It has been over 1900 years since our early Christian fathers walked on this planet. Many things have changed over time. As a matter of fact, we have lost the understanding of what our fathers observed and understood when they walked with Yeshua and when they sat under the leadership of the early disciples of Yeshua. This happens in every generation.

Here is an example to explain what we are talking about here:

Judges 2: 10 That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the LORD’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.

Here is the background of this verse! The Children of Israel under the leadership of Joshua entered the Promised Land.  They are working on possessing the land with the help of Joshua’s leadership and others. Now, Joshua and his contemporaries are getting old. These people were strong in their faith having experienced firsthand the wonder-working power of God.  They have heard from their fathers what the Lord has done to them in Egypt. And they have experienced God in a very personal manner during the 40 years of wilderness journey. They have a huge influence on the people and therefore as verse 7 says “The people worshiped the LORD throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.” Now, when we come to verse 10, it says “; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the LORD’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel”. The new generation lost touch with the reality that their very existence is a miracle. They lost the understanding of the laws of God and what it means to please God. They lost the enthusiasm to follow God and will a miracle in their lives like Joshua and others did. What was the result; they turned to other gods and did what was displeasing to God. They failed to expel the Canaanites from their midst as commanded by God. Instead, they compromised and disobeyed God. And the consequences are being reaped even today.

My point is this. This is what happened over the centuries after the generations have passed since the disciples walked on the planet. People lost their understanding. People their enthusiasm. People neglected to follow the commandments of God. They began to twist and turn the word of God the way it fits their agenda. They came up with their interpretation of the scripture and compromised the word of God to accommodate the social, economic and political norms of their age. The subsequent generation did even worse. Now, after 1900 years, we have set doctrines that are far away from the reality of what God intended for us. This is only human. But we never question our understanding of the Scripture. We do not consider the Old Testament principles to be relevant to our lives today. We have a church system that comes with its doctrines that fit our lives today.  I believe that the teaching of the relevance and the importance of the Sabbath is one of those good examples.

What is the evidence that the early church kept the 7th day Biblical Sabbath? Here are some of the statements from our early fathers for us to consider.

“Declares (Philo) 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.

“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 that purpose.” Dialogue on the Lord’s Day, p. 189. London: 1701. By Dr. T.H. Morer (Church of England divine).

“…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

“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.” “The Whole Works” of Jeremy Taylor, Vol. IX,p. 416 (R. Heber’s Edition, Vol XII, p. 416).

“The ancient Christians were very careful in the observation 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 tells us that they held religious assemblies 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.

“It is certain that the ancient Sabbath did remain and was observed (together with the celebration of the 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

Note: By the “Lord’s day” here the writer means Sunday and not the true Sabbath,” which the Bible says is the Sabbath. This quotation shows Sunday coming into use in the early centuries soon after the death of the Apostles. Paul the Apostle foretold a great “falling away” from the Truth that would take place soon after his death.

“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.

“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 observance of God’s true Biblical Sabbath did NOT end with the apostles and the early church. It was practiced and continues to be practiced by those believers who recognize and understand the importance of OBEDIENCE to God’s commandments.

And here are some choice excerpts substantiating that punishment was meted out to those who refused to change their practice of Sabbath observance or to recognize the “Sunday law” being promoted in the majority of the gentile Christian world.

“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. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ.” Catholic Church Council in Laodicea, 364AD, Canon 29.

“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. Therefore, we counsel 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.” Catholic Provincial Council at Bergen. 1435 Dip. Norveg., 7, 397.

Holland and Germany: Babara of Thiers, who was executed in 1529, declared: “God has commanded us to rest on the seventh day.” Martyrology of the Churches of Christ, commonly called Baptists, during the era of the Reformation, from the Dutch of T.J. Van Braght, London 1850, 1, pp. 113-114.

Russia: “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 Jury Monastery of Novgorod, were condemned to death, and burned publicly in cages, at Moscow, Dec. 27, 1503.”( Council, Moscow, 1503). H. Sternberf, Geschichte der Juden (Leipzig, 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 efter Motet i Upsala.

Europe: About the year 1520, many of these Sabbath-keepers found shelter on the estate of Lord Leonhardt of Lichtensein, “as the princes of Lichtenstein held to the observance of the true Sabbath.” History of the Sabbath, J.N. Andrews, p. 649, ed.

Rumania (1760): “Joseph II’s edict of tolerance did not apply to the Sabbatarians, some of whom again lost all of their possessions.” Jahrgang 2, 254.

Bohemia and Moravia: “The condition of the Sabbatarians (from 1635 to 1867) was dreadful. Their books and writings had to be delivered to the Karlsburg Consistory to become the spoil of flames.” Adolf Dux, Aus Ungarn, pp. 289-291. Leipzig, 1880.

As believers in God, wishing to honour God with our lives, if there is one thing that matters to our lives today it is to take a painful exploration of what God has said in His word and follow them. Because the end of the day as far as eternity is concerned is the deciding factor. Nothing else matters. Don’t be a lawbreaker!

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’