The Catholic Church views seventh-day Sabbatarianism, which advocates worship on Saturday as the Sabbath, as a misunderstanding of Christian tradition.
first of all -- I really do like the genuine and logical conclusion you make for your premises -- the problem is that your premise is not accurate.
1. the term "Sabbatarianism" is not found in the Bible.
2. If keeping the Sabbath in its unaltered God-given form - the 7th day of the week Ex 20:8-11 -- then all the saints of Heb 11, and all the writers of the NT were "Sabbatarians"
3. Paul was engaged in Gospel preaching to gentiles and jews "Every Sabbath" Acts 18:4
4. Gentiles ask for more Gospel preaching to be scheduled for them again "The NEXT Sabbath" in Acts 13 at which point they invite almost "the entire town"
The Church teaches that Sunday, the day of Christ's resurrection, is the Lord's Day
The Catholic church teaches that the LORD's day is the 7th day of the week "as God gave it".
But that later the Catholic Church "changed it"
and the proper day for Christian worship. This shift from Saturday to Sunday worship began in the early Church and is rooted in the New Testament,
Not according to the Catholic Church statement about what is not actually in the Bible.
======================== EXAMPLE
"The Faith Explained"
Catholic Commentary on the Baltimore Catechism post Vatican II - argues the SAME two points.
1965 -- first published 1959
(from "
The Faith Explained" by Leo Trese page 243
"we know that in the O.T it was the
seventh day of the week - the Sabbath day- which was observed
as the Lord's day. that was
the law as God gave it...'remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.. the early Christian church determined as the Lord's day the first day of the week.
That the church had the right to make such a law is evident...
"The reason for
changing the Lord's day from Saturday to Sunday lies in the fact that to the Christian church the first day of the week had been made double holy...
"nothing is said in the bible about the change of the Lord's day from Saturday to Sunday..that is why
we find so illogical the attitude of many non-Catholic
who say they will believe nothing unless they can find it in the bible and yet will continue to keep Sunday as the Lord's day on the say-so of the Catholic church"
================================== next example
Convert's Catechism
Full text of "The convert's catechism of Catholic doctrine"
3. The
Third Commandment.
Q. What is the Third Commandment?
A. The Third Commandment is: Remember that thou
keep holy the Sabbath day.
---------------------------50
Q. Which is the Sabbath day ?
A
. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday ?
A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of
Laodicea (A.D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.
Q. Why did the
Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A.
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.
Q.
By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday
A. The
Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her.
Q. What does the Third Commandment command?
A. The
Third Commandment commands us to sanctify Sunday as the Lord's Day.
=========================== next example
Thomaston, Georgia
May 22, 1934
Pop Pius XI
Rome, Italy
Dear Sir;
Is the accusation true, that Protestants accuse you of? They say you
changed the Seventh Day Sabbath to the, so-called, Christian Sunday:
Identical with the First Day of the week. If so, when did you make the
change, and by what authority?
Yours very truly,
J. L. Day
The Reply:
THE CATHOLIC EXTENSION MAGAZINE
180 Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois
(Under the Blessing of Pop Pius XI)
Dear sir:
Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the
Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
> (1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath.
The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
(2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith.
Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church,
as a rule to guide us. ...
(3) We also say that of all Protestants,
the Seventh-day Adventists are
the only group that reason correctly and are consistent with their
teachings. It is always somewhat laughable to see the Protestant Churches,
in pulpit and legislature, demand the observance of Sunday of which there
is nothing in the Bible.
With best wishes,
Peter R. Tramer, Editor
