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Did Constantine change the Sabbath to Sunday like SDAs & Flat Earthers claim?
Did Constantine change the Sabbath to Sunday? Such a claim states that a major violation of the law took place in the name Christ, which would make the ministry of Christ' Apostles a total failure from the start. But what if SDAs and other Sabbatarrian sects are lying to you? If Constantine changed the Sabbath to Sunday then early Christianity should be nothing but Sabbath worship before this change. So lets just go back before Constantine to see if what Seventh Day Adventists say is true.
Ignatius of Antioch was a disciple of the Apostles in the 1st century. However, his written Epistles come from the early 2nd century in which I will be quoting from 108 A.D.
Since Ignatius was a disciple of the Apostle John, we now have a better understanding of what St.John meant in Rev.1:9-10:
The Lord's Day is what the early Christians called the first day of the week.
The Didache (also known as "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles"), was written in the 1st century, even before the Ignatian Epistles, and is the earliest existing catechism for the church. Most scholars agree that the date of composition is between 50--70 A.D. The author of this catechism is unknown. But it is the earliest mention of Sunday (i.e., The Lord's Day) outside the Canon.
Though in 150 A.D. we would see Justin Martyr use the word Sunday for the first time in Christian history:
Again Justin Martyr mentions Sunday:
The Apostles kept the Lord's Day (i.e., Sunday) as the new Sabbath from the time Jesus rose on the first day of the week. There are about 8 verses in the New Testament which show them worshiping Christ on Sunday. SDAs like to argue those verses and make up petty excuses for them. However, there is one verse the SDAs cannot argue against:
Now since SDAs and other Sabbatarians believe we live under the Mosaic Law, they fail to recognize that the Sabbath Law was a sign between God and the Israelites forever (Exo.31:16-17) and this covenant was never given to their fathers (Deut.5:2-3). Thus this law was a covenant made between God and Israel with a purpose. The Gentiles did not have the law (Rom.2:14-15). The entire Decalogue of Israel was there for a Divine Purpose and that Purpose was Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets and this happened on the 1st day of the week.
Jesus finished the work of God. But what work could Jesus have finished if creation week ended on the 7th Day? This is where SDAs have a serious problem in how they understand Scripture. Mankind fell into sin (Gen.3) and thus creation was tarnished by sin and God cursed all creation on account of sin entering the world. But God was not finished. Jesus rose on the 1st day which to us Christians symbolizes the 8th Day of creation--creation through the newness of our lives in Christ' resurrection from the dead, when we, too, rose from the dead through His Power.
SDAs often accuse Christians who attend Sunday Churches of worshiping the sun. But that is a silly argument. We could also say SDAs worship the god Saturn if we wanted to return the silliness. But all the days of the week were named after pagan deities and Jesus and His Apostles lived in a very pagan world.
But here you can see that before 336 B.C., Christians were worshiping on Sunday (aka "the Lord's Day") long before Constantine's father was born! The SDA claim is not historically true. But will SDAs be honest about all this? Nope!
Then there is this fulfilled verse SDAs pay no attention to:
This verse was fulfilled in what historians call Christendom. God is not losing. The Gospel did not become corrupted in the early centuries of Christianity. The Apostles did not fail.
Did Constantine change the Sabbath to Sunday? Such a claim states that a major violation of the law took place in the name Christ, which would make the ministry of Christ' Apostles a total failure from the start. But what if SDAs and other Sabbatarrian sects are lying to you? If Constantine changed the Sabbath to Sunday then early Christianity should be nothing but Sabbath worship before this change. So lets just go back before Constantine to see if what Seventh Day Adventists say is true.
Ignatius of Antioch was a disciple of the Apostles in the 1st century. However, his written Epistles come from the early 2nd century in which I will be quoting from 108 A.D.
"Consequently, if the people who were given to obsolete practices faced the hope of a new life, and if these no longer observe the Sabbath, but regulate their calendar by the Lord's Day, the day, too, on which our Life rose by His power and through the medium of His death--though some deny this; and if to this mystery we owe our faith and because of it submit to sufferings to prove ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Teacher: how, then, can we possibly live apart from Him of whom, by the working of the Spirit, even the Prophets were disciples and to whom they looked forward as their Teacher? And so He, for whom they rightly waited, came and raised then from the dead" (St.Ignatius of Antioch, "Epistle to the Magnesians," Ancient Christian Writers Vol.1, p.72).
Since Ignatius was a disciple of the Apostle John, we now have a better understanding of what St.John meant in Rev.1:9-10:
"9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet."
The Lord's Day is what the early Christians called the first day of the week.
The Didache (also known as "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles"), was written in the 1st century, even before the Ignatian Epistles, and is the earliest existing catechism for the church. Most scholars agree that the date of composition is between 50--70 A.D. The author of this catechism is unknown. But it is the earliest mention of Sunday (i.e., The Lord's Day) outside the Canon.
"On the Lord's own day, assemble in common to break bread and offer thanks; but first confess your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure" (The Didache, Ancient Christian Writers Vol.6, p.23).
Though in 150 A.D. we would see Justin Martyr use the word Sunday for the first time in Christian history:
"And on the day called Sunday all who live in the cities or in the country gather together in one place, and memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits."
Again Justin Martyr mentions Sunday:
"But we all hold this common gathering on Sunday, since it is the first day, on which God transforming darkness and matter made the matter made the universe, Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For they crucified Him on the day before Saturday, and on the day after Saturday, He appeared to His Apostles and disciples and taught then these things which we have passed on to you also for your consideration" (St.Justin Martyr, "The First And Second Apologies," Ancient Christian Writers Vol.56, pp.71-72).
The Apostles kept the Lord's Day (i.e., Sunday) as the new Sabbath from the time Jesus rose on the first day of the week. There are about 8 verses in the New Testament which show them worshiping Christ on Sunday. SDAs like to argue those verses and make up petty excuses for them. However, there is one verse the SDAs cannot argue against:
"Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (John 4:34).
Now since SDAs and other Sabbatarians believe we live under the Mosaic Law, they fail to recognize that the Sabbath Law was a sign between God and the Israelites forever (Exo.31:16-17) and this covenant was never given to their fathers (Deut.5:2-3). Thus this law was a covenant made between God and Israel with a purpose. The Gentiles did not have the law (Rom.2:14-15). The entire Decalogue of Israel was there for a Divine Purpose and that Purpose was Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets and this happened on the 1st day of the week.
Jesus finished the work of God. But what work could Jesus have finished if creation week ended on the 7th Day? This is where SDAs have a serious problem in how they understand Scripture. Mankind fell into sin (Gen.3) and thus creation was tarnished by sin and God cursed all creation on account of sin entering the world. But God was not finished. Jesus rose on the 1st day which to us Christians symbolizes the 8th Day of creation--creation through the newness of our lives in Christ' resurrection from the dead, when we, too, rose from the dead through His Power.
SDAs often accuse Christians who attend Sunday Churches of worshiping the sun. But that is a silly argument. We could also say SDAs worship the god Saturn if we wanted to return the silliness. But all the days of the week were named after pagan deities and Jesus and His Apostles lived in a very pagan world.
But here you can see that before 336 B.C., Christians were worshiping on Sunday (aka "the Lord's Day") long before Constantine's father was born! The SDA claim is not historically true. But will SDAs be honest about all this? Nope!
Then there is this fulfilled verse SDAs pay no attention to:
"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising" (Isaiah 60:3).
This verse was fulfilled in what historians call Christendom. God is not losing. The Gospel did not become corrupted in the early centuries of Christianity. The Apostles did not fail.