Sabbath Keeping Through the Centuries

Historical References to Sabbath Observance

By J.F. Coltheart (corrected and revised)


2nd Century Sabbath Observance

EARLY CHRISTIANS
"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 the purpose."
"Dialogues on the Lord's Day," p. 189. London: 1701, By Dr. T.H. Morer (A Church of England divine).
EARLY CHRISTIANS
"...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
2ND CENTURY CHRISTIANS
"The Gentile Christians observed also the Sabbath,"
Gieseler's "Church History," Vol.1, ch. 2, par. 30, 93.
EARLY CHRISTIANS
"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. [364 A.D.]"
"The Whole Works" of Jeremy Taylor, Vol. IX,p. 416 (R. Heber's Edition, Vol XII, p. 416).
EARLY CHURCH
"It is certain that the ancient [Saturday] Sabbath did remain and was observed (together with the celebration of the [Sunday] 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
2ND, 3RD, 4TH CENTURIES
"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.

3rd Century Sabbath Observance

EGYPT (OXYRHYNCHUS PAPYRUS) (200-250 A.D.)
"Except ye make the sabbath a real sabbath (sabbatize the Sabbath, Greek), ye shall not see the Father."
"The Oxyrhynchus Papyri," pt,1, p.3, Logion 2, verso 4-11 (London Offices of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898).
EARLY CHRISTIANS-C 3rd
"Thou shalt observe the Sabbath, on account of Him who ceased from His work of creation, but ceased not from His work of providence: it is a rest for meditation of the law, not for idleness of the hands."
"The Anti-Nicene Fathers," Vol 7,p. 413. From "Constitutions of the Holy Apostles," a document of the 3rd and 4th Centuries.
AFRICA (ALEXANDRIA) ORIGEN
"After the festival [Sunday] of the unceasing sacrifice (the crucifixion) is put the second festival of the Sabbath, and it is fitting for whoever is righteous among the saints to keep also the festival of the Sabbath. There remaineth therefore a sabbatismus, that is, a keeping of the Sabbath, to the people of God (Hebrews 4:9)."
"Homily on Numbers 23," par.4, in Migne, "Patrologia Graeca," Vol. 12,cols. 749, 750.
PALESTINE TO INDIA (CHURCH OF THE EAST)
As early as A.D. 225 there existed bishoprics or conferences of the Church of the East (Sabbath-keeping) stretching from Palestine to India.
Mingana, "Early Spread of Christianity." Vol.10, p. 460.
INDIA (BUDDHIST CONTROVERSY), 220 A.D.)
The Kushan Dynasty of North India called a famous council of Buddhist priests at Vaisalia to bring uniformity among the Buddhist monks on the observance of their weekly Sabbath. Some had been so impressed by the writings of the Old Testament that they had begun to keep holy the Sabbath.
Lloyd, "The Creed of Half Japan," p. 23.
EARLY CHRISTIANS
"The seventh-day Sabbath was...solemnised by Christ, the Apostles, and primitive Christians, till the Laodicean Council [364 A.D.] did in manner quite abolish the observations of it."
"Dissertation on the Lord's Day," pp. 33, 34

4th Century Sabbath Observance

ITALY AND EAST-C 4th
"It was the practice generally of the Easterne Churches; and some churches of the west...For in the Church of Millaine (Milan);...it seems the Saturday was held in a farre esteeme... Not that the Easterne Churches, or any of the rest which observed that day, were inclined to Iudaisme (Judaism); but that they came together on the Sabbath day, to worship Iesus (Jesus) Christ the Lord of the Sabbath."
"History of the Sabbath" (original spelling retained), Part 2, par. 5, pp.73, 74. London: 1636. Dr. Heylyn.
ORIENT AND MOST OF WORLD
"The ancient Christians were very careful in the observance 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 likewise tells us that they held religious assembles 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.
ABYSSINIA
"In the last half of that century St. Ambrose of Milan stated officially that the Abyssinian bishop, Museus, had 'traveled almost everywhere in the country of the Seres' (China). For more than seventeen centuries the Abyssinian Church continued to sanctify Saturday as the holy day of the fourth commandment."
Ambrose, De Moribus, Brachmanorium Opera Omnia, 1132, found in Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol.17, pp.1131,1132.
ARABIA, PERSIA, INDIA, CHINA
"Mingana proves that in 370 A.D. Abyssinian Christianity (a Sabbath keeping church) was so popular that its famous director, Musacus, travelled extensively in the East promoting the church in Arabia, Persia, India and China."
"Truth Triumphant,"p.308 (Footnote 27).
ITALY-MILAN
"Ambrose, the celebrated bishop of Milan, said that when he was in Milan he observed Saturday, but when in Rome observed Sunday. This gave rise to the proverb, 'When you are in Rome, do as Rome does.'"
Heylyn, "The History of the Sabbath" (1612)
SPAIN-COUNCIL ELVIRA (A.D.305)
Canon 26 of the Council of Elvira: "As to fasting every Sabbath: Resolved, that the error be corrected of fasting every Sabbath." This resolution of the council is in direct opposition to the policy the church at Rome had inaugurated, that of commanding Sabbath as a fast day in order to humiliate it and make it repugnant to the people.
SPAIN
It is a point of further interest to note that in north-eastern Spain near the city of Barcelona is a city called Sabadell, in a district originaly inhabited. By a people called both "Valldenses" and Sabbatati."
PERSIA-A.D. 335-375 (40 YEARS PERSECUTION UNDER SHAPUR II)
The popular complaint against the Christians-"They despise our sungod, they have divine services on Saturday, they desecrate the sacred the earth by burying their dead in it."
"Truth Triumphant," p.170.
PERSIA-A.D.335-375
"They despise our sun-god. Did not Zoroaster, the sainted founder of our divine beliefs, institute Sunday one thousand years ago in honour of the sun and supplant the Sabbath of the Old Testament. Yet these Christians have divine services on Saturday."
O'Leary, "The Syriac Church and Fathers," pp.83, 84.
COUNCIL LAODICEA - A.D.364
"Canon 16 - On Saturday the Gospels and other portions of the Scripture shall be read aloud."
"Canon 29 - 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."
Hefele's "Councils," Vol. 2, b. 6.

5th Century Sabbath Observance

THE WORLD
"For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrated the sacred mysteries (the Lord's Supper) on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Allexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this." The footnote which accompanies the foregoing quotation explains the use of the word "Sabbath." It says: "That is, upon the Saturday. It should be observed, that Sunday is never called the Sabbath by the ancient Fathers and historians."
Sacrates, "Ecclestical History," Book 5, chap. 22, p. 289.
CONSTANTINOPLE
"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 WORLD-AUGUSTINE, BISHOP OF HIPPO (NORTH AFRICA)
Augustine shows here that the Sabbath was observed in his day "in the greater part of the Christian world," and his testimony in this respect is all the more valuable because he himself was an earnest and consistent Sunday-keeper.
"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers," 1st Series, Vol.1, pp. 353, 354.
POPE INNOCENT (402-417)
Pope Sylvester (314-335) was the first to order the churches to fast on Saturday, and Pope Innocent (402-417) made it a binding law in the churches that obeyed him, (in order to bring the Sabbath into disfavour.)
"Innocentius did ordain the Saturday or Sabbath to be always fasted."
Dr. Peter Heylyn, "History of the Sabbath, Part 2, p. 44.
5TH CENTURY CHRISTIANS
Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church.
"Ancient Christianity Exemplified," Lyman Coleman, ch. 26, sec. 2, p. 527.
In Jerome's day (420 A.D.) the devoutest Christians did ordinary work on Sunday.
"Treatise of the Sabbath Day," by Dr. White, Lord Bishop of Ely, p. 219.
FRANCE
"Wherefore, except Vespers and Nocturns, there are no public services among them in the day except on Saturday (Sabbath) and Sunday."
John Cassian, A French monk, "Institutes," Book 3, ch. 2.
AFRICA
"Augustine deplored the fact that in two neighbouring churches in Africa one observes the seventh-day Sabbath, another fasted on it."
Dr. Peter Heylyn, "The History of the Sabbath." p. 416.
SPAIN (400 A.D.)
"Ambrose sanctified the seventh day as the Sabbath (as he himself says). Ambrose had great influence in Spain, which was also observing the Saturday Sabbath."
Truth Triumphant, p. 68.
SIDONIUS (SPEAKING OF KING THEODORIC OF THE GOTHS, A.D. 454-526)
"It is a fact that it was formerly the custom in the East to keep the Sabbath in the same manner as the Lord's day and to hold sacred assemblies: while on the other hand, the people of the West, contending for the Lord's day have neglected the celebration of the Sabbath."
"Apollinaries Sidonli Epistolae," lib.1, 2; Migne, 57.
CHURCH OF THE EAST
"Mingana proves that in 410 Isaac, supreme director of the Church of the East, held a world council,-stimulated, some think, by the trip of Musacus,-attended by eastern delegates from forty grand metropolitan divisions. In 411 he appointed a metropolitan director for China. These churches were sanctifying the seventh day."
EGYPT
"There are several cities and villages in Egypt where, contrary to the usage established elsewhere, the people meet together on Sabbath evenings, and, although they have dined previously, partake of the mysteries."
Sozomen, "Ecclesiastical History Book 7, ch. 119

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6th Century Sabbath Observance

SCOTTISH CHURCH
"In this latter instance they seemed to have followed a custom of which we find traces in the early monastic church of Ireland by which they held Saturday to be the Sabbath on which they rested from all their labours."
W.T. Skene, "Adamnan's Life of St. Columba" 1874, p.96.
SCOTLAND, IRELAND
"We seem to see here an allusion to the custom, observed in the early monastic Church of Ireland, of keeping the day of rest on Saturday, or the Sabbath."
"History of the Catholic Church in Scotland," Vol.1, p. 86, by Catholic histsorian Bellesheim.
SCOTLAND - COLUMBA
"Having continued his labours in Scotland thirty-four years, he clearly and openly foretold his death, and on Saturday, the month of June, said to his disciple Diermit: "This day is called the Sabbath, that is the rest day, and such will it truly be to me; for it will put an end to my labours.'"
"Butler's Lives of the Saints," Vol.1, A.D. 597, art. "St. Columba" p. 762
COLUMBA (RE DR. BUTLER'S DESCRIPTION OF HIS DEATH)
The editor of the best biography of Columba says in a footnote: "Our Saturday. The custom to call the Lord's day Sabbath did not commence until a thousand years later."
Adamnan's "Life of Columba" (Dublin, 1857), p. 230.

7th Century Sabbath Observance

SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
"It seems to have been customary in the Celtic churches of early times, in Ireland as well as Scotland, to keep Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of rest from labour. They obeyed the fourth commandment literally upon the seventh day of week."
James C. Moffatt, "The Church in Scotland," p.140.
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
"The Celts used a Latin Bible unlike the Vulgate (R.C.) and kept Saturday as a day of rest, with special religious services on Sunday."
Flick, "The Rise of Mediaeval Church," p. 237
ROME
Gregory I (A.D. 590-640) wrote against "Roman citizens (who) forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day."
"Nicene and Post- Nicene Fathers," Second Series, Vol, XIII, p.13, epist. 1
ROME (POPE GREGORY I, A.D.590 TO 604)
"Gregory, bishop by the grace of God to his well-beloved sons, the Roman citizens: It has come to me that certain men of perverse spirit have disseminated among you things depraved and opposed to the holy faith, so that they forbid anything to be done on the day of the Sabbath. What shall I call them except preachers of anti-Christ?"
Epistles, b.13:1
ROME (POPE GREGORY I)
Declared that when anti-Christ should come he would keep Saturday as the Sabbath.
"Epistles of Gregory I, "b 13, epist.1. found in "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers."
"Moreover, this same Pope Gregory had issued an official pronouncement against a section of the city of Rome itself because the Christian believers there rested and worshipped on the Sabbath."
"Epistles of Gregory I, "b 13, epist.1. found in "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers."

8th Century Sabbath Observance

COUNCIL OF FRIAUL, ITALY - A.D. 791 (CANON 13)
"We command all Christians to observe the Lord's day to be held not in honour of the past Sabbath, but on account of that holy night of the first of the week called the Lord's day. When speaking of that Sabbath which the Jews observe, the last day of the week, and which also our peasants observe.."
Mansi, 13, 851
PERSIA AND MESOPOTAMIA
"The hills of Persia and the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates reechoed their songs of praise. They reaped their harvests and paid their tithes. They repaired to their churches on the Sabbath day for the worship of God."
"Realencyclopaedie fur Protestantische Theologie und Kirche," art. "Nestorianer"; also Yule, "The Book of ser Marco Polo," Vol.2, p.409.
INDIA, CHINA, PERSIA, ETC
"Widespread and enduring was the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath among the believers of the Church of the East and the St. Thomas Christians of India, who never were connected with Rome. It also was maintained among those bodies which broke off from Rome after the Council of Chalcedon namely, the Abyssinians, the Jacobites, the Maronites, and the Armenians,"
Schaff-Herzog, The New Enclopadia of Religious Knowledge," art. "Nestorians"; also Realencyclopaedie fur Protestantische Theologie und Kirche," art. "Nestorianer."
COUNCIL OF LIFTINAE, BELGIUM-A.D.745 (ATTENDED BY BONIFACE)
"The third allocution of this council warns against the observance of the Sabbath, referring to the decree of the council of Laodicea."
Dr. Hefele, Counciliengfesch, 3, 512, sec. 362
CHINA-A.D.781
In A.D. 781 the famous China Monument was inscribed in marble to tell of the growth of Christianity in China at that time. The inscription, consisting of 763 words, was unearthed in 1625 near the city of Changan and now stands in the "Forest of Tablets," Changan. The following extract from the stone shows that the Sabbath was observed:
"On the seventh day we offer sacrifices, after having purified our hearts, and received absolution for our sins. This religion, so perfect and so excellent, is difficult to name, but it enlightens darkness by its brilliant precepts."
Christianity in China, M. I'Abbe Huc, Vol. I, ch.2, pp. 48, 49

9th Century Sabbath Observance

BULGARIA
"Bulgaria in the early season of its evangelization had been taught that no work should be performed on the Sabbath."
Responsa Nicolai Papae I and Con-Consulta Bulllllgarorum, Responsum 10, found in Mansi, Sacrorum Concilorum Nova et Amplissima Colectio, Vol.15; p. 406; also Hefele, Conciliengeschicte, Vol.4, sec. 478
BULGARIA
Pope Nicholas I, in answer to letter from Bogaris, ruling prince of Bulgaria.
"Ques. 6-Bathing is allowed on Sunday.
Ques. 10-One is to cease from work on Sunday, but not also on the Sabbath." Hefele, 4,346- 352, sec. 478
The Bulgarians had been accustomed to rest on the Sabbath. Pope Nicholas writes against this practice.
CONSTANTINOPLE
Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople {in counter-synod that deposed Nicolas}, thus accused Papacy).
"Against the canons, they induced the Bulgarians to fast on the Sabbath."
Photius, vonKard, Hergenrother, 1, 643
ATHINGIANS
Cardinal Hergenrother says that they stood in intimate relation with Emperor Michael II (821-829) and testifies that they observed the Sabbath.
Kirchengeschichte, 1, 527
INDIA, ABYSSINIA
"Widespread and enduring was the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath among the believers of the Church of the East and the St. Thomas Christians of India. It was also maintained by the Abyssinians.
BULGARIA
"Pope Nicholas I, in the ninth century, sent the ruling prince of Bulgaria a long document saying in it that one is to cease from work on Sunday, but not on the Sabbath. The head of the Greek Church, offended at the interference of the Papacy, declared the Pope ex-communicated."
Truth Triumphant, p. 232

10th Century Sabbath Observance

SCOTLAND
"They worked on Sunday, but kept Saturday in a Sabbatical manner."
A history of Scotland from the Roman Occupation, Vol. I, p.96. Andrew Lang
CHURCH OF THE EAST - Kurdistan
"The Nestorians eat no pork and keep the Sabbath. They believe in neither auricular confession nor purgatory."
Schaff-Herzog, "The New Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge," art. "Nestorians."
WALDENSES
"And because they observed no other day of rest but the Sabbath days, they called them Insabathas, as much as to say, as they observed no Sabbath."
Luther's "Fore-Runners" (original spelling), PP. 7, 8
WALDENSES
Roman Catholic writers try to evade the apostolic origin of the Waldenses, so as to make it appear that the Roman is the only apostolic church, and that all others are later novelties. And for this reason they try to make out that the Waldenses originated with Peter Waldo of the twelfth century.
"Some Protestants, on this occasion, have fallen into the snare that was set for them...It is absolutely false, that these churches were ever found by Peter Waldo...it is a pure forgery."
Peter Allix, Ancient Church of Piedmont, pp.192, Oxford: 1821
WALDENSES
"It is not true, that Waldo gave this name to the inhabitants of the valleys: they were called Waldenses, or Vaudes, before his time, from the valleys in which they dwelt."
Peter Allix, Ancient Church of Piedmont, p.182, Oxford: 1821
WALDENSES
On the other hand, he "was called Valdus, or Waldo, because he received his religious notions from the inhabitants of the valleys."
History of the Christian Church, William Jones, Vol II, p.2

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11th Century Sabbath Observance

SCOTLAND
They held that Saturday was properly the Sabbath on which they abstained from work.
"Celtic Scotland," Vol. 2, p. 350
SCOTLAND
"They worked on Sunday, but kept Saturday in a sabbatical manner... These things Margaret abolished." A History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation," Vol.1, p. 96.
SCOTLAND
"It was another custom of theirs to neglect the reverence due to the Lord's day, by devoting themselves to every kind of worldly business upon it, just as they did upon other days. That this was contrary to the law, she (Queen Margaret) proved to them as well by reason as by authority. 'Let us venerate the Lord's day,' said she, 'because of the resurrection of our Lord, which happened upon that day, and let us no longer do servile works upon it; bearing in mind that upon this day we were redeemed from the slavery of the devil. The blessed Pope Gregory affirms the same.'"
Life of Saint Margaret, Turgot, p. 49 (British Museum Library)
SCOTLAND
"Her next point was that they did not duly reverence the Lord's day, but in this latter instance they seemed to have followed a custom of which we find traces in the early Church of Ireland, by which they held Saturday to be the Sabbath on which they rested from all their labours."
Historian Skene commenting upon the work of Queen Margaret. Skene, "Celtic Scotland," Vol.2, p. 349
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
"In this matter the Scots had perhaps kept up the traditional usage of the ancient Irish Church which observed Saturday instead of Sunday as the day of rest."
Barnett, "Margaret of Scotland: Queen and Saint," p.97. (T. Ratcliffe Barnett on the fervent Catholic queen of Scotland who in 1060 was first to attempt the ruin of Columba's brethren)
COUNCIL OF CLERMONT
"During the first crusade, Pope Urban II decreed at the council of Clermont (A.D.1095) that the Sabbath be set aside in honour of the Virgin Mary."
History of the Sabbath, p.672
CONSTANTINOPLE
"Because you observe the Sabbath with the Jews and the Lord's Day with us, you seem to imitate with such observance the sect of Nazarenes."
Migne, "Patrologia Latina," Vol. 145, p.506; also Hergenroether, "Photius," Vol. 3, p.746. (The Nazarenes were a Christian denomination.)
GREEK CHURCH
"The observance of Saturday is, as everyone knows, the subject of a bitter dispute between the Greeks and the Latins."
Neale, "A History of the Holy Eastern Church," Vol 1, p. 731. (Referring to the separation of the Greek Church from the Latin in 1054)

12th Century Sabbath Observance

LOMBARDY
"Traces of Sabbath-keepers are found in the times of Gregory I, Gregory VII, and in the twelfth century in Lombardy."
Strong's Cyclopaedia, 1, 660
WALDENSES
Robinson gives an account of some of the Waldenses of the Alps, who were called Sabbati, Sabbatati, Insabbatati, but more frequently Inzabbatati.
"One says they were so named from the Hebrew word Sabbath, because they kept the Saturday for the Lord's day."
General History of the Baptist Denomination, Vol.II, P. 413
SPAIN (Alphonse of Aragon)
"Alphonse, king of Aragon, etc., to all archbishopss, bishops and to all others...'We command you that heretics, to wit, Waldenses and Insabbathi, should be expelled away from the face of God and from all Catholics and ordered to depart from our kingdom.'"
Marianse, Praefatio in Lucam Tudensem, found in "Macima Gibliotheca Veterum Patrum," Vol.25, p.190
HUNGARY FRANCE, ENGLAND, ITALY, GERMANY. (Referring to the Sabbath-keeping Pasagini) "The spread of heresy at this time is almost incredible. From Bulgaria to the Ebro, from northern France to the Tiber, everywhere we meet them. Whole countries are infested, like Hungary and southern France; they abound in many other countries, in Germany, in Italy, in the Netherlands and even in England they put forth their efforts."
Dr. Hahn, "Geschichte der Ketzer." 1, 13, 14
WALDENSES
"Among the documents. we have by the same peoples, an explanation of the Ten Commandments dated by Boyer 1120. Observance of the Sabbath by ceasing from worldly labours, is enjoined."
Blair, History of the Waldenses, Vol.1, p. 220
WALES
"There is much evidence that the Sabbath prevailed in Wales university until A.D.1115, when the first Roman bishop was seated at St. David's. The old Welslh Sabbath-keeping churches did not even then altogether bow the knee to Rome, but fled to their hiding places."
Lewis, "Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and America," Vol.1, p.29
FRANCE
"For twenty years Peter de Bruys stirred southern France. He especialy emphasised a day of worship that was recognized at that time amaong the Celtic churches of the British Isles, among the Paulicians, and in the great Church of the East namely, the the seventh day of the fourth commandment."
PASAGINI
The papal author, Bonacursus, wrote the following against the "Pasagaini": "Not a few, but many know what are the errors of those who are called Pasaagini...First, they teach that we should obey the Sabbath. Furthermore, to increase their error, they condemn and reject all the church Fathers, and the whole Roman Church."
D'Achery, Spicilegium I,f.211-214; Muratory, Antiq. med. aevi.5, f.152, Hahn, 3, 209

13th Century Sabbath Observance

WALDENSES
"They say that the blessed Pope Sylvester was the Antichrist of whom mention is made in the Epistles of SSt. Paul as having been the son of perdition.[They also say] that the keeping of the Sabbath ought to take place."
Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Churches ofPiedmont," p.169 (by prominent Roman Catholic author writing about Waldenses)
FRANCE (Waldenses)
To destroy completely these heretics Pope Innocent III sent Dominican inquistors into France, and also crusaders, promising "a plenary remission of all sins, to those who took on them the crusade...against the albigenses." Catholic Encyclopaedia, Vol.XII, art."Raymond VI," p. 670
WALDENSES OF FRANCE
"The inquisitors...[declare] that the sign of a Vaudois, deemed worthy of death, was that he followed Christ and sought to obey the commandments fo God." History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages," H.C.Les, vol.1
FRANCE
Thousands of God's people were tortured to death by the Inquisition, buried alive, burned to death, or hacked to pieces by the crusaders. While devastating the city of Biterre the soldiers asked the Catholic leaders how they should know who were heretics; "Slay them all, for the Lord knows who is His."
History of the Inquisition, pp. 96
FRANCE - KING LOUIS IX, 1229
Published the statute "Cupientes" in which he charges himself to clear southern France from heretics as the Sabbath-keepers were called.
WALDENSES OF FRANCE
"The heresy of the Vaudois, or poor people of Lyons, is of great antiquity, for some say that it has been continued down ever since the time of Pope Sylvester; and others, ever since that of the apostles."
The Roman Inquisitor, Reinerus Sacho, writing about 1230
FRANCE - Council Toulouse, 1229
Canons against Sabbath-keepers:
"Canon 3. - The lords of the different districts shall have the villas, houses and woods diligently searched, and the hiding-places of the heretics destroyed.
"Canon 14. - Lay members are not allowed to possess the books of either the Old or the New Testaments."
Hefele, 5, 931, 962
EUROPE
"The Paulicians, Petrobusinas, Passaginians, Waldenses, Insabbatati were great Sabbath-keeping bodies of Europe down to 1250 A.D."
PASAGINIANS
Dr. Hahn says that if the Pasaginians referred to the 4th Commandment to support the Sabbath, the Roman priests answered, "The Sabbath symbolised the eternal rest of the saints."
MONGOLIA
"The Mongolian conquest did not injure the Church of the East. (Sabbath-keeping.) On the contrary, a number of the Mongolian princes and a larger number of Mongolian queens were members of this church."

14th Century Sabbath Observance

WALDENSES
"That we are to worship one only God, who is able to help us, and not the Saints departed; that we ought to keep holy the Sabbath day."
Luther's Fore-runners," p. 38
INSABBATI
"For centuries evangelical bodies, especially the Waldenses, were called Insabbati because of Sabbath-keeping."
Gui, Manueld' Inquisiteur
BOHEMIA, 1310 (Modern Czechoslovakia)
"In 1310, two hundred years before Luther's theses, the Bohemian brethern constituted onefourth of the population of Bohemia, and that they were in touch with the Waldenses who abounded in Austria, Lombardy,. Bohemia, north Germany, Thuringia, Brandenburg, and Moravia. Erasmus pointed out how strictly Bohemian Waldenses kept the seventh day Sabbath."
Armitage, "A History of the Baptists," p.313; Cox, "The Literature of the Sabbath Question," vol. 2, pp. 201-202
NORWAY
Then, too, in the "Catechism" that was used during the fourteenth century, the Sabbath commandment read thus; "Thou shalt not forget to keep the seventh day."
This is quoted from "Documents and Studies Concerning the History of the Lutheran Catechism in the Nordish Churches," p.89. Christiania 1893
NORWAY
"Also the priests have caused the people to keep Saturdays as Sundays."
Theological Periodicals for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norway, Vol.1, p.184 Oslo
ENGLAND, HOLLAND, BOHEMIA
"We wrote of the Sabbatarians in Bohemia, Transylvania, England and Holland between 1250 and 1600 A.D."
Truth Triumphant, Wilkinson, p.309

15th Century Sabbath Observance

BOHEMIA
"Erasmus testifies that even as late as about 1500 these Bohemians not only kept the seventh day scrupulously, but also were called Sabbatarians."
Cox, "The Literature of the Sabbath Question," Vol.2, pp.201, 202 "Truth Triumphant," p.264
NORWAY
(Church Council held at Bergin, August 22,1435) "The first matter concerned a keeping holy of Saturday. It had come to the earth of the archbishop that people in different places of the kingdom had ventured the keeping holy of Saturday. It is strictly forbidden - it is stated - in the Church Law, for any one to keep or to adopt holy-days, outside of those which the pope, archbishop, or bishops appoint."
The History of the Norwegian Church under Catholicism, R. Keyser, Vol.II, p. 488.Oslo: 1858
NORWAY, 1435 (Catholic Provincial Council at Bergin) "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. Therfore, we counsil 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."
Dip. Norveg., 7, 397
NORWAY, 1436
(Church Conference at Oslo) "It is forbidden under the same penalty to keep Saturday holy by refraining from labour."
History of the Norwegian Church, p.401
FRANCE - Waldenses
"Louis XII, King of France (1498-1515), being informed by the enemies of the Waldense inhabiting a part of the province of Province, that several heinous crimes were laid to their account, sent the Master of Requests, and a certain doctor of the Sorbonne, to make inquiry into this matter. On their return they reported that they had visited all the parishes, but could not discover any traces of those crimes with which they were charged. On the contrary, they kept the Sabbath day, observed the ordinance of baptism, according to the primitive church, instructed their children in the articles of the Christian faith, and the commandmnets of God. The King having heard the report of his commisioners, said with an oath that they were better men than himself or his people."
History of the Christian Church, Vol.II, pp. 71, 72, third edition. London: 1818
INDIA
"Separated from the Western world for a thousand years, they were naturally ignorant of many novelties introduced by the councils and decrees of the Lateran. 'We are Christians, and not idolaters,' was their expressive reply when required to do homage to the image of the Virgin Mary.'"

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16th Century Sabbath Observance

ENGLAND
"In the reign of Elizabeth, it occurred to many conscientious and independent thinkers (as it previously had done to some Protestants in Bohemia) that the fourth commandment required of them the observance, not of the first, but of the specified 'seventh' day of the week."
Chambers' Cyclopaedia, article "Sabbath," Vol. 8, p. 462, 1537
RUSSIA (Council, Moscow, 1593)
"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 Fury Monastery of Novgorod, were condemned to death, and burned publicly in cages, at Moscow; Dec. 17,1503."
H.Sternberfi, "Geschichte der Juden" (Leipsig, 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 after Motetthiers, Upsala
LICHENSTEIN FAMILY
(estates in Austria, Bohemia, Morovia, Hungary. Lichenstein in the Rhine Valley wasn't their country until the end of the 7th century). "The Sabbatarians teach that the outward Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, still must be observed, They say that Sunday is the Pope's invention."
Refutation of Sabbath, by Wolfgang Capito, published 1599
BOHEMIA (the Bohemian Brethren)
"I find from a passage in Erasmus that at the early period of the Reformation when he wrote, there were Sabbatarians in Bohemia, who not only kept the seventh day, but were said to be...scrupulous in resting on it."
Literature of the Sabbath Question, R. Cox, Vol. II, pp. 201, 202
HISTORIAN'S LIST OF CHURCHES (16th Century)
"Sabbatarians, so called because they reject the observance of the Lord's day as not commanded in Scripture, they consider the Sabbath alone to be holy, as God rested on that day and commanded to keep it holy and to rest on it."
A. Ross
GERMANY
-Dr. Esk (while refuting the Reformers) "However, the church has transferred the observance from Saturday to Sunday by virtue of her own power, without Scripture."
Dr. Esk's "Enchiridion," 1533, pp.78,79
PRINCES OF LICHTENSTEIN (Europe)
About the hear 1520 many of these Sabbath-keepers found shelter on the estate of Lord Leonhardt of Lichtensein held to the observance of the true Sabbath."
J.N.Andrews, History of the Sabbath, p. 649, ed.
INDIA
"The famous Jesuit, Francis Xavier, called for the Inquisition, which was set up in Goa, India, in 1560, to check the 'Jewish wickedness' (Sabbath-keeping)."
Adeney, "The Greek and Eastern Churches," p.527, 528
NORWAY-1544
"Some of you, contrary to the warning, keep Saturday. You ought to be severely punished. Whoever shall be found keeping Saturday, must pay a fine of ten marks."
History of King Christian the Third," Niels Krag and S. Stephanius.
AUSTRIA
"Sabatarians now exist in Austria."
Luther, "Lectures on Genesis," A.D.1523-27
ABYSSINIA--A.D. 1534
(Abyssinian legate at court of Lisbon) "It is not therefore, in imitation of the Jews, but in obedience to Christ and His holy apostles, that we observe the day."
Gedde's "Church History of Ethiopia," pp. 87,8
DR. MARTIN LUTHER
"God blessed the Sabbath and sanctified it to Himself. God willed that this command concerning the Sabbath should remain. He willed that on the seventh day the word should be preached."
Commentary on Genesis, Vol.1, pp.138-140
BAPTISTS
"Some have suffered torture because they would not rest when others kept Sunday, for they declared it to be the holiday and law of Antichrist."
Sebastian Frank (A.D. 1536)
FINLAND-Dec. 6,1554
(King Gustavus Vasa I, of Sweden's letter to the people of Finland) "Some time ago we heard that some people in Finland had fallen into a great error and observed the seventh day, called Saturday."
State Library at Helsingfors, Reichsregister, Vom J., 1554, Teil B.B. leaf 1120, pp.175-180a
SWITZERLAND
"The observance of the Sabbath is a part of the moral law. It has been kept hholy since the beginning of the world."
Ref. Noted Swiss writer, R. Hospinian, 1592
HOLLAND AND GERMANY
Barbara of Thiers, who was executed in 1529, declared: "God has commanded us to rest on the seventh day." Another martyr, Christina Tolingerin, is mentioned thus: "Concerning holy days and Sundays, she said: 'In six days the Lord made the world, on the seventh day he rested. The other holy days have been instituted by popes, cardinals, and archbishops.'"
Martyrology of the Churches of Christ, commonly called Baptists, during the era of the Reformation, from the Dutch of T.J. Van Bright, London, 1850,1, pp.113-4.

17th Century Sabbath Observance

ENGLAND-1618
"At last for teaching only five days in the week, and resting upon Saturday she was carried to the new prison in Maiden Lane, a place then appointed for the restraint of several other persons of different opinions from the Church of England. Mrs. Traske lay fifteen or sixteen years a prisoner for her opinion about the Saturday Sabbath."
Pagitt's "Heresiography." p.196
ENGLAND-1668
"Here in England are about none or ten churches that keep the Sabbath, besides many scattered disciples, who have eminently preserved."
Stennet's letters, 1668 and 1670. Cox, Sab.,1, 268
HUNGARY, RUMANIA
"But as they rejected Sunday and rested on the Sabbath, Prince Sigmond Bathory ordered their persecution. Pechi advanced to position of chancellor of state and next in line to throne of Transylvania. He studied his Bible, and composed a number of hymns, mostly in honour of the Sabbath. Pechi was arrested and died in 1640.
SWEDEN AND FINLAND
"We can trace these opinions over almost the whole extent of Sweden of that day-from Finland and northern Sweden. "In the district of Upsala the farmers kept Saturday in place of Sunday. "About the year 1625 this religious tendency became so pronounced in these countries that not only large numbers of the common people began to keep Saturday as the rest day, but even many priests did the same."
History of the Swedish Church, Vol.I, p.256
MUSCOVIT RUSSIAN CHURCH
"They solemnize Saturday (the old Sabbath).
Samuel Purchase- "His Pilgrims." Vol. I, p. 350
INDIA (Jacobites)-1625
"They kept Saturday holy. They have solemn service on Saturdays."
Pilgrimmes, Part 2, p.1269
AMERICA-1664
"Stephen Mumford, the first Sabbath-keeper in America come from London in 1664."
History of the Seventh-day Baptist Gen. Conf. by Jas. Bailey, pp. 237, 238. [The 7th-day Baptist continue to exist, and now have their home office in Jaynesville, Wisconsin.]
AMERICA-1671 (Seventh-day Baptists)
"Broke from Baptist Church in order to keep Sabbath."
See Bailey's History, pp. 9,10
ENGLAND
Charles I, 1647 (when querying the Parliament Commissioners) "For it will not be found in Scripture where Saturday is no longer to be kept, or turned into the Sunday wherefore it must be the Church's authority that changed the one and instituted the other."
Cox, "Sabbath Laws," p.333
ENGLAND-John Milton
"It will surely be far safer to observe the seventh day, according to express commandment of God, than on the authority of mere human conjecture to adopt the first."
Sab. Lit. 2, 46-54
ENGLAND
"Upon the publication of the 'Book of Sports' in 1618 a violent controversy arose among English divines on two points: first, whether the Sabbath of the fourth commandment was in force; and, secondly, on what ground the first day of the week was entitled to be observed as 'the Sabbath.'"
Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, art. "Sabbatarians." p.602
ETHIOPIA-1604
Jesuits tried to induce the Abyssinian church to accept Roman Catholicism. They influenced King Zadenghel to propose to submit to the Papacy (A.D.1604). "Prohibiting all his subjects, upon severe penalties, to observe Saturday any longer."
Gedde's "Church History of Ethiopia." p.311, also Gibbon's "Decline and Fall," ch. 47
BOHEMIA, MORAVIA, SWITZERLAND, GERMANY
"one of the counsellors and lords of the court was John Gerendi, head of the Sabbatarians, a people who did not keep Sunday, but Saturday."
Lamy, "The History of Socinianism." p. 60
TELEGRAPH PRINT, NAPIER
The inscription on the monument over the grave of Dr. Peter Chamberlain, physician to King James and Queen Anne, King Charles I and Queen Katherine says that Dr. Chamberlain was "a Christian keeping the commandment of God and the faith of Jesus, being baptised about the year 1648, and keeping the seventh day for the Sabbath above thirty-two years."

18th Century Sabbath Observance

ABYSSINIA
"The Jacobites assembled on the Sabbath day, before the Domical day, in the temple, and kept that day, as do also the Abyssinians as we have seen from the confession of their faith by the Ethiopian king Claudius."
Abundacnus, 'Historia Jacobatarum,"p.118-9 (18th Century)
RUMANIA, 1760 (and what is today) YUGOSLAVIA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
"Joseph II's edict of tolerance did not apply to the Sabbatarians, some of whom again lost all of their possessions." Jahrgang 2, 254
"Catholic priests aided by soldiers forcing them to accept Romanism nominally, and compelling the remainder to labour on the Sabbath and to attend church on Sunday,-these were the methods employed for two hundred fifty years to turn the Sabbatarians.
GERMANY-Tennhardt of Nuremberg
"He holds strictly to the doctrine of the Sabbath, because it is one of the ten commandments."
Bengel's "Leban und Wirken," Burk, p.579
He himself says: "It cannot be shown that Sunday has taken the place of the Sabbath (P.366). the Lord God has sanctified the last day of the week. Antichrist, on the other hand, has appointed the first day of the week."
Ki Auszug aus Tennhardt's "Schriften," P.49 (printed 1712)
BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA (Today Czechoslovakia).
Their history from 1635 to 1867 is thus described by Adolf Dux: "The condition of the Sabbatarians was dreadful. Their books and writings had to be delivered to the Karlsburg Consistory to becomes the spoils of flames."
Aus Ungarn, pp. 289-291. Leipzig, 1850
HOLLAND AND GERMANY
"Dr. Cornelius stated of East Friesland, that when Baptists were numerous, "Sunday and holidays were not observed," (they were Sabbath-keepers).
Der Anteil Ostfrieslands and Ref. Muenster," 1852, pp l29, 34
MORAVIA-Count Zinzendorf
In 1738 Zinzendorf wrote of his keeping the Sabbath thus: "That I have employed the Sabbath for rest many years already, and our Sunday for the proclamation of the gospel."
Budingsche Sammlung, Sec. 8, p. 224. Leipzig, 1742
AMERICA, 1741
-Moravian Brethren (after Zinzendorf arrived from Europe). "As a special instance it deserves to be noticed that he is resolved with the church at Bethlehem to observe the seventh day as rest day.
Id., pp. 5, 1421, 1422
AMERICA
But before Zinzendorf and the Moravians at Bethlehem thus began the observance of the Sabbath and prospered, there was a small body of German Sabbath-keepers in Pennsylvania.
See Rupp's "History of Religious Denominations in the United States," pp.109- 123

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19th Century Sabbath Observance

RUSSIA
"But the majority moved to the Crimea and the Caucasus, where they remain true to their doctrine in spite of persecution until this present time. The people call them Subotniki, or Sabbatarians,"
Sternberg, "Geschichte der Juden in Polen," p.124
CHINA
"At this time Hung prohibited the use of opium, and even tobacco, and all intoxicating drinks, and the Sabbath was religiously observed."
The Ti-Ping Revolution," by Llin-Le, and officer among them, Vol. 1, pp.36-48, 84
"The seventh day is most religiously and strictly observed. The Taiping Sabbath is kept upon our Saturday."
P. 319
CHINA
"The Taipings when asked why they observed the seventh day Sabbath, replied that it was, first, because the Bible taught it, and, second, because their ancestors observed it as a day of worship."
A Critical History of the Sabbath and the Sunday.
INDIA AND PERSIA
"Besides, they maintain the solemn observance of Christian worship throughout our Empire, on the seventh day."
Christian Researches in Asia, p.143
DENMARK
"This agitation was not without its effect. Pastor M.A. Sommer began observing the seventh day, and wrote in his church paper. "Indovet Kristendom" No.5,1875 an impressive article about the true Sabbath. In a letter to Elder John G.Matteson, he says:
"Among the Baptists here in Denmark there is a great agitation regarding the Sabbath commandment..However, I am probably the only preacher in Denmark who stands so near to the Adventists and who for many years has proclaimed Christ's second coming."
Advent Tidente, May, 1875
SWEDEN (Baptists)
"We will now endeavour to show that the sanctification of the Sabbath has its foundation and its origin in a law which God at creation itself established for the whole world, and as a consequence thereof is binding on all men in all ages."
Evangelisten (The Evangelist). Stockholm, May 30 to August 15,1863 (organ of the Swedish Baptist Church)
AMERICA, 1845
"Thus we see Dan. 7, 25, fulfilled, the little horn changing 'times and laws. 'Therefore it appears to me that all who keep the first day for the Sabbath are Pope's Sunday-keepers and God's Sabbath-breakers."
Elder T.M. Preble, Feb.13, 1845
AMERICA (Seventh-day Adventists and Sabbatarian Church of God)
After the "Great Disappointment" of 1844, Adventists encountered 7th-day Baptists, and learned of the Sabbath. The Sabbatarian Adventists became two groups. Those who believed Ellen G. White to be a prophetess became the Seventh-day Adventists. The other group became known as the Sabbatarian Church of God. Both groups have propagated widely the keeping of the 7th-day Sabbath. [ABCOG is an independent Sabbatarian Church of God congregation.]
Coltheart's original version gratefully obtained from www.tagnet.org/llt/sabcen.htm

Sunday and Sabbath Observance, Rest and Worship

1. The weekly Saturday Sabbath is a sign ... A Sign for Our Time by Leslie A. Turvey
2. Oswald Glaidt & Andreas Fischer (1527) give their reasons why ... Christians Must Observe the Saturday Sabbath based on David Liechty
3. The Day to Remember - Does God have a special day set aside when we should remember Him?
4. Is a Day of Rest and Worship all that God requires? ... The Sabbath and Social Justice by Gnana Robinson, Madurai, 1986
5. Is Sunday God's choice or Man's Choice? The American Legal Basis for Sunday Observance by H.B. Clark, California, 1943
6. A new direction in "political correctness"? Get Ready for Sunday!
7. Summary of the Holy Days that God commands His people to observe - The weekly Sabbath and the 7 Annual Holy Days and Seasons.
8. Sabbath observance by the OT patriarchs?
9. Does Colossians 2:16-17 show that the Sabbath is not in effect?"
10. Is Jesus "Lord of the Sabbath" because he fulfilled the Law?
11. The Christian day of worship Saturday "Sabbath" or Sunday "Lord's Day"?
12. Can't we worship any day?
13. From Sabbath to Sunday - Sunday-keepers say when it happened and who commanded it.
14. A Look at the Pope's Reason for Sunday-keeping. Saturday or Sunday? A response to the Pope's Pastoral Letter by Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University, 1998
15. When did the change to Sunday observance happen?
16. Fact or legend? An event at the Tridentine Council... The Sabbath and the Council of Trent by Archbishop of Reggio, 1562
17. A historical note on Christian observations of the Saturday Sabbath... Sabbatarians. J. Evans, Wilmington, Delaware and London, 1804
18. A pastor reports on Sabbatarians in Gabon
19. A poem explaining why most Christians refuse to obey God's command to keep the 7th-day Sabbath holy, by Roswell Cottrell, 1851
20. Comments on the Greek words for Sabbath, by Mike Linacre, ABCOG, 1998
21. How could a Day of Rest be a burden or a curse?... Delight in the Sabbath
22. Is the Christian Sabbath Saturday or Sunday? What is the "Lord's Day"? "Remarks on the different Sentiments entertained in Christendom relative to the Weekly Sabbath." A book in 13 Chapters by Robert Burnside, London, 1825
23. Have Christians remembered God's Saturday Sabbath? Historical References to Sabbath Observance by J.F. Coltheart (corrected and revised)

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StonedProphet said:

Awesome list, and here I thought the Romans killed them all.

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Stryder06 said:

This is starting to become a non-issue for me.

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