Did the early church teach that Christians should keep the Sabbath (i.e., Saturday)?

[Kilk1]

Hello! This could be a "church fathers" thread, but since a similar one I did before was moved, I'll just post here. The following article claims that Theophilus (Patriarch of Antioch from 169 to 182) taught that Christians must keep the Sabbath:

Theophilus of Antioch – 160-180s AD

The main quotes in question are two:

“‘And on the sixth day God finished His works which He made, and rested on the seventh day from all His works which He made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because in it He rested from all His works which God began to create.’…Moreover, [they spoke] concerning the seventh day, which all men acknowledge; but the most know not that what among the Hebrews is called the “Sabbath,” is translated into Greek the “Seventh” (ebdomas), a name which is adopted by every nation, although they know not the reason of the appellation” (To Autolycus, book 2, Chapters 11-12).

And here's the other one:

“…we have learned a holy law; but we have as lawgiver Him who is really God, who teaches us to act righteously, and to be pious, and to do good…Of this great and wonderful law, which tends to all righteousness, the ten heads are such as we have already rehearsed…” (To Autolycus, book 3, Chapters 9).

Emphasis and parenthetical referencing are from the source linked above. It seems to me that in the first paragraph, he's claiming that the word "Sabbath" appears in many languages, not necessarily that everyone must keep it. And in the other quoted paragraph, I'm not sure if the "the ten heads" are the ten commandments, but they could be. It's also claimed in the following article that Theophilus and Ignatius and Polycarp were Sabbatarians:

Christians kept the Sabbath after the New Testament

I thought I've heard elsewhere that Ignatius said Christians no longer need to keep the Sabbath? So is all this accurate, or are these quotes taken out of context?

 

[guevaraj]

Did the early church teach that Christians should keep the Sabbath (i.e., Saturday)?

Brother, I think I have found an English translation online of what my professor discovered in Greek and Latin in the Vatican library.

The excerpts below tell us that these Nazoreans are direct descendants of the Jerusalem church after the disciples fled to Pella before the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 AD. They keep the Jewish Sabbath until the time of Epiphanius in the fourth century.

Epiphanius’ Panarion
Wikipedia gives us a description of this body of work: the Panarion, meaning "bread basket", later translated to Latin under the name “Against Heresies”, is the most important of the works of Epiphanius of Salamis (d. 403). It was written in Koine Greek beginning in 374 or 375, and issued about three years later, as a treatise on heresies, with its title referring to the text as a "stock of remedies to offset the poisons of heresy." It treats 80 religious sects, either organized groups or philosophies, from the time of Adam to the latter part of the fourth century, detailing their histories, and rebutting their beliefs.

Part 29. Epiphanius Against the Nazoraeans
...
5:6 For by hearing just Jesus’ name, and seeing the miracles performed by the hands of the apostles, they came to faith in Jesus themselves. And since they found that he had been conceived at Nazareth and brought up in Joseph’s home, and for this reason is called ‘Jesus the Nazoraean’ in the Gospel—as the apostles say, ‘Jesus the Nazoraean, a man approved by signs and wonders,’ and so on—they adopted this name, so as to be called Nazoreans.
...
7:5 They are different from Jews, and different from Christians, only in the following ways. They disagree with Jews because of their belief in Christ; but they are not in accord with Christians because they are still fettered by the Law—circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rest.
...
7:7 This sect of Nazoraeans is to be found in Beroea near Coelesyria, in the Decapolis near Pella, and in Bashanitis at the place called Cocabe—Khokhabe in Hebrew.
7:8 For that was its place of origin, since all the disciples had settled in Pella after their remove from Jerusalem—Christ having told them to abandon Jerusalem and withdraw from it because of the siege it was about to undergo. And they settled in Peraea for this reason and, as I said, lived their lives there. It was from this that the Nazoraean sect had its origin.
...​

United in our hope for the soon return of Jesus, Jorge

 

[SabbathBlessings]

It only matters what God tells us, not what was changed by man that God warned us about. Daniel 7:25.

The Sabbath is a commandment of God Exodus 20:8-11 so that does not sound like its optional to me.

 

[DragonFox91]

I’m not sure. I know there’s a lot of debate on this. Plus I think how Jews marked a day makes it even more complicated.

 

[timothyu]

I thought I've heard elsewhere that Ignatius said Christians no longer need to keep the Sabbath? So is all this accurate, or are these quotes taken out of context?

The Catholic Bishop of Rome changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday after Constantine's 321 A.D. edict. Sylvester I (314-335 A.D.) gave his approval to the 321 Edict, later confirmed at the Council of Laodicea (363 A.D.) "Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath"

Sunday was an odd choice to recognize Jesus' resurrection as scripture says Jesus had already risen before dawn on the first day of the week, hence during the Saturday Sabbath which by Jewish tradition went from sunrise to sunrise (hence the term breaking fast - breakfast). But Jewish literature also says from sunrise to sunset and Lev23:32 says sunset to sunset.

John 20: 1The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

 

[HTacianas]

Hello! This could be a "church fathers" thread, but since a similar one I did before was moved, I'll just post here. The following article claims that Theophilus (Patriarch of Antioch from 169 to 182) taught that Christians must keep the Sabbath:

Theophilus of Antioch – 160-180s AD

The main quotes in question are two:

“‘And on the sixth day God finished His works which He made, and rested on the seventh day from all His works which He made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because in it He rested from all His works which God began to create.’…Moreover, [they spoke] concerning the seventh day, which all men acknowledge; but the most know not that what among the Hebrews is called the “Sabbath,” is translated into Greek the “Seventh” (ebdomas), a name which is adopted by every nation, although they know not the reason of the appellation” (To Autolycus, book 2, Chapters 11-12).

And here's the other one:

“…we have learned a holy law; but we have as lawgiver Him who is really God, who teaches us to act righteously, and to be pious, and to do good…Of this great and wonderful law, which tends to all righteousness, the ten heads are such as we have already rehearsed…” (To Autolycus, book 3, Chapters 9).

Emphasis and parenthetical referencing are from the source linked above. It seems to me that in the first paragraph, he's claiming that the word "Sabbath" appears in many languages, not necessarily that everyone must keep it. And in the other quoted paragraph, I'm not sure if the "the ten heads" are the ten commandments, but they could be. It's also claimed in the following article that Theophilus and Ignatius and Polycarp were Sabbatarians:

Christians kept the Sabbath after the New Testament

I thought I've heard elsewhere that Ignatius said Christians no longer need to keep the Sabbath? So is all this accurate, or are these quotes taken out of context?

It has always been the custom of Christianity to gather on Sunday, the Lord's Day. The book of Acts describes Christians meeting on the first day of the week and the Revelation speaks of the Lord's Day. In 112 AD Pliny wrote that it was the custom of Christians to meet before dawn on "a certain day of the week". Meeting before dawn was not a custom of observance of the Jewish sabbath.

 

[timothyu]

Meeting before dawn was not a custom of observance of the Jewish sabbath.

It was at the end of the Sabbath, breaking fast.. breakfast.

 

[trophy33]

Did the early church teach that Christians should keep the Sabbath (i.e., Saturday)?

The problem with the question is that there was not just one early church. There were many early churches and few of them kept Sabbath, logically mainly the ones with Jewish members.

Churches throughout Roman empire (and beyond) that were not composed of Jews, mostly did not keep Sabbath.

 

[timothyu]

Churches throughout Rome (and beyond) that were not composed of Jews, mostly did not keep Sabbath.

Was it not the Sabbath that set the Hebrew people apart, just as the day was set apart?

 

[Hank77]

Sunday was an odd choice to recognize Jesus' resurrection as scripture says Jesus had already risen before dawn on the first day of the week, hence during the Saturday Sabbath which by Jewish tradition went from sunrise to sunrise (hence the term breaking fast - breakfast)

The Jewish Sabbath is from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.

A weekly 25-hour observance, from just before sundown each Friday through the completion of nightfall on Saturday, Shabbat is more than just a day off from labor.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbat-101/

My understanding is that Jesus rose after nightfall on Saturday, the Sabbath being over, meaning he rose on the 1st day of the week, Sunday before daylight.

 

[timothyu]

The Jewish Sabbath is from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.

According to Jews or gentile literature? Jewish literature seems to state a discrepancy between sunrise to sunrise versus sunrise to sunset. Yours is a third option convenient to Christianity it seems.

 

[Hank77]

The problem with the question is that there was not one early church. There were many early churches and few of them kept Sabbath, logically mainly the ones with Jewish members.

Churches throughout Roman empire (and beyond) that were not composed of Jews, mostly did not keep Sabbath.

Polycarp was likely to keep the Saturday Sabbath as he also argued in Rome for celebrating Christ's death and resurrection on Nisan 14, Passover. He was a Quartodeciman.

 

[BobRyan]

Hello! This could be a "church fathers" thread, but since a similar one I did before was moved, I'll just post here. The following article claims that Theophilus (Patriarch of Antioch from 169 to 182) taught that Christians must keep the Sabbath:

Theophilus of Antioch – 160-180s AD

The main quotes in question are two:

“‘And on the sixth day God finished His works which He made, and rested on the seventh day from all His works which He made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because in it He rested from all His works which God began to create.’…Moreover, [they spoke] concerning the seventh day, which all men acknowledge; but the most know not that what among the Hebrews is called the “Sabbath,” is translated into Greek the “Seventh” (ebdomas), a name which is adopted by every nation, although they know not the reason of the appellation” (To Autolycus, book 2, Chapters 11-12).

And here's the other one:

“…we have learned a holy law; but we have as lawgiver Him who is really God, who teaches us to act righteously, and to be pious, and to do good…Of this great and wonderful law, which tends to all righteousness, the ten heads are such as we have already rehearsed…” (To Autolycus, book 3, Chapters 9).

Emphasis and parenthetical referencing are from the source linked above. It seems to me that in the first paragraph, he's claiming that the word "Sabbath" appears in many languages, not necessarily that everyone must keep it. And in the other quoted paragraph, I'm not sure if the "the ten heads" are the ten commandments, but they could be. It's also claimed in the following article that Theophilus and Ignatius and Polycarp were Sabbatarians:

Christians kept the Sabbath after the New Testament

I thought I've heard elsewhere that Ignatius said Christians no longer need to keep the Sabbath? So is all this accurate, or are these quotes taken out of context?

I think they are correct - but still remember that sola-scriptura testing is how we check out doctrine.

There is no text in scripture saying that week-day-1 is the Sabbath. Even the Catholic Church is pretty clear on that one in their document "The Faith Explained" a commentary on the Baltimore Catechism after Vatican II.

 

[BobRyan]

According to Jews or gentile literature? Jewish literature seems to state a discrepancy between sunrise to sunrise versus sunrise to sunset. Yours is a third option convenient to Christianity it seems.

Jewish lit in Lev 23 says "from evening to evening"
And pretty much every Orthodox Jewish Synagogue on Earth still does it that way

 

[BobRyan]

I’m not sure. I know there’s a lot of debate on this. Plus I think how Jews marked a day makes it even more complicated.

From evening to evening Lev 23 - and in Gen 1 each day is a full "evening and morning" so then that would be "from evening to evening" to span a full day.

 

[Albion]

The Bible says Sunday for worship, so that's the "God's word" everyone likes to talk about being authoritative.

That doesn't mean that Saturday ceased to be the Sabbath, although sects that worship on Saturday and not on Sunday seem to think that it helps their cause to work into their remarks the claim that somebody or other "moved" the Sabbath.

 

[BobRyan]

Brother, I think I have found an English translation online of what my professor discovered in Greek and Latin in the Vatican library.

If you are talking about Samuel Bacchiocchi - then I can say he was pretty firm on Sabbath starting at evening on Friday and ending at evening on Saturday in the Sabbath's I spent with him.

 

[BobRyan]

The Bible says Sunday for worship

Some folks say there is a Bible text that says every Sunday was set apart as a day of worship in the NT. So we do hear folks claim that from time to time.

I for one would be interested in reading such a text.

 

[Albion]

Some folks** say there is a Bible text that says every Sunday was set apart as a day of worship in the NT.

**Such as the churches that represent 90% of all Christians.

I for one would be interested in reading such a text.

The Bible verse is identified and/or quoted every time this topic comes up, and you are a participant in all or most of those discussions.

 

[guevaraj]

If you are talking about Samuel Bacchiocchi - then I can say he was pretty firm on Sabbath starting at evening on Friday and ending at evening on Saturday in the Sabbath's I spent with him.

Brother, yes! He did not advance beyond what was confirmed in her last vision on the Sabbath, when there was more to learn than "what even is". He never got to "when it is"!

I saw that it is even so: “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” Said the angel: “Take the word of God, read it, understand, and ye cannot err. Read carefully, and ye shall there find what even is, and when it is.” I asked the angel if the frown of God had been upon His people for commencing the Sabbath as they had. I was directed back to the first rise of the Sabbath, and followed the people of God up to this time, but did not see that the Lord was displeased, or frowned upon them. I inquired why it had been thus, that at this late day we must change the time of commencing the Sabbath. Said the angel: “Ye shall understand, but not yet, not yet.” Said the angel: “If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject.” I saw that it was in the minds of some that the Lord had shown that the Sabbath commenced at six o'clock, when I had only seen that it commenced at “even,” and it was inferred that even was at six. I saw that the servants of God must draw together, press together. (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, Page 116)​

As she was "directed back to the first rise of the Sabbath" in Genesis, I came to understand "when it is" that evening falls on the first day. An evening can only occur after light and falls in the middle of the first day, in the special case of the first day, between first light to light again in the morning. Before the light, there was darkness and not an evening. Those are different words that are not interchangeable.

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and MORNING came, marking the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5 NLT)​

United in our hope for the soon return of Jesus, Jorge