The history of how Sunday worship came about.

reddogs

Contributor
Supporter
Dec 29, 2006
9,086
462
✟418,416.00
Faith
SDA
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
It wasnt the apostles or from Christ, or any change in the Bible, so how did Sunday worship come from. Well history gives us a clue in this descriptions I came across..

"On March 7, 321, Roman Emperor Constantine I decreed that dies Solis Invicti (‘sun-day,’ or Day of Sol Invictus, Roman God of the Sun) would be the Roman day of rest throughout the Roman Empire...

Though Sol Invictus (meaning ‘The unconquered Sun’) was indeed a pagan Roman God, and had been featured on Roman coins, Constantine coopted this pagan heritage along with the Judeo-Christian following of the 10 Commandments by granting a day to honor God and rest for man. As the Roman Empire gradually converted to Christianity, Sunday became the natural day for the Sabbath and rest since Romans were already accustomed to Sunday as their day off."March 7, 321: How Sunday Became the Christian Day of Rest - History and Headlines

"The early Romans initially adopted the earlier Greek Hellenistic religion that incorporated the worship of many deities, including Apollo and Helios—the sun god, who was known to the Romans as Sol. As time passed, Sol eventually took on the combined attributes of Apollo, Helios and Mithra. The early Roman Emperors promoted the rising cult of Sol Invictus with the addition of numerous new temples, statues, rites and festivals created in Sol's name. Like earlier solar deities, Sol's tasks included steering the sun-chariot across the sky each day, a reminder that this cult was a blending of monotheism and earlier paganism.

By promoting the cult and the consolidation of divine power into Sol, Roman emperors were able to please the military and also enhance their own power by identifying Sol as the source of imperial legitimacy; in some cases the emperors were able to promote themselves as the personification of Solon earth.

Constantine in the early 4th century advanced the pagan cult of Sol Invictus to the height of its popularity. Among his efforts was the minting of this special coin dedicated to Sol. Constantine also built his famous Arch in Rome, inscribed with several references to Sol Invictus, and positioned it carefully to align with the colossal 100' bronze statue of Sol that adjoined the Coliseum at the time. The rising popularity Christianity in Rome's rural areas was a factor in Constantine’s later adoption of Christianity as the Empire's official religious—a transition arguably made easier by the preceding, well accepted ideas embodied in and popularized by the cult of Sol Invictus." ..Biblical Artifacts Ancient Coins and Artifacts from the Holy Land

"Sol Invictus played a prominent role in the Mithraic mysteries and was portrayed as being equated with, allied with, or an epithet of Mithras, although the relationship between the public cults themselves is controversial. The New Testament scholar Helmut Koester, in his book, Introduction to the New Testament, says “Although Mithras appeared to be the most oriental god among the new deities, and although his cult was essentially celebrated in exclusive mystery associations—the Mithras cult was a “mystery religion” in the strict sense of the word—this god was received by the Romans without resistance, and at the end of the 3d century CE, as Sol Invictus he became the official god of the Roman state.” ..The Dying-and-Rising Gods: Sol Invictus

The text of Constantine's Sunday Law of 321 A.D.:
First Sunday Law enacted by Emperor Constantine -
March, 321 A.D.

On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time [A.D. 321].)
Source: Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), p. 380, note 1. ...Was The Seven-Day Weekly Cycle Created By Man?

The early believers kept Saturday as the Sabbath until March 7, 321 CE when Constantine passed his law requiring believers to worship on Sunday, the day the pagans worshiped the sun-god, Sol Invictus. Believers continued to keep Saturday as the Sabbath but gradually were swept aside as the day of the sun took root in the empire, and we see the start of serious oppression for the day of worship, and many believers began to be persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for keeping the Sabbath.

Rome had been the center of many of the pagan festivals and cults, and it was held that Mithras was born on what we now call Christmas day, and his followers celebrated the spring equinox. The Sol Invictus, associated with Mithras, was one the main pagan cult the church faced and rather than reject it let it come into the church with its sun worship. The Cybele cult also flourished in Rome on today's Vatican Hill. They held that Cybele's lover Attis, was born of a virgin, died and was reborn annually. This spring festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, rising to a crescendo after three days, in rejoicing over the resurrection. There was violent conflict on Vatican Hill in the early days of Christianity between the Jesus worshipers and pagans who quarreled over whose God was the true, and whose the imitation. Christianity came to an accommodation with the pagan Spring festival and used it to bring in unconverted pagans.

History clearly shows how the Pagan worship of Sol Invictus and festivals got into the early church and it was never sanctioned by scripture or given by Christ and the Apostles.

Transition from Pagan to Christian

'This legislation by Constantine probably bore no relation to Christianity; it appears, on the contrary, that the emperor, in his capacity of Pontifex Maximus, was only adding the day of the Sun, the worship of which was then firmly [p. 123] established in the Roman Empire, to the other ferial days of the sacred calendar…
[p. 270] What began, however, as a pagan ordinance, ended as a Christian regulation; and a long series of imperial decrees, during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, enjoined with increasing stringency abstinence from labor on Sunday.' - Source: Hutton Webster, Rest Days, pp. 122, 123, 270. Copyright 1916 by The Macmillan Company, New York.

'The Church made a sacred day of Sunday … largely because it was the weekly festival of the sun; for it was a definite Christian policy to take over the pagan festivals endeared to the people by tradition, and to give them a Christian significance.' Source: Arthur Weigall, The Paganism in Our Christianity, p. 145. Copyright 1928 by G. p. Putnam’s Sons, New York. ...Sunday Worship
 
Last edited:

renniks

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2008
10,682
3,445
✟149,430.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
It wasnt the apostles or from Christ, or any change in the Bible, so how did Sunday worship come from. Well history gives us a clue in this descriptions I came across..

"On March 7, 321, Roman Emperor Constantine I decreed that dies Solis Invicti (‘sun-day,’ or Day of Sol Invictus, Roman God of the Sun) would be the Roman day of rest throughout the Roman Empire...

Though Sol Invictus (meaning ‘The unconquered Sun’) was indeed a pagan Roman God, and had been featured on Roman coins, Constantine coopted this pagan heritage along with the Judeo-Christian following of the 10 Commandments by granting a day to honor God and rest for man. As the Roman Empire gradually converted to Christianity, Sunday became the natural day for the Sabbath and rest since Romans were already accustomed to Sunday as their day off."March 7, 321: How Sunday Became the Christian Day of Rest - History and Headlines

"The early Romans initially adopted the earlier Greek Hellenistic religion that incorporated the worship of many deities, including Apollo and Helios—the sun god, who was known to the Romans as Sol. As time passed, Sol eventually took on the combined attributes of Apollo, Helios and Mithra. The early Roman Emperors promoted the rising cult of Sol Invictus with the addition of numerous new temples, statues, rites and festivals created in Sol's name. Like earlier solar deities, Sol's tasks included steering the sun-chariot across the sky each day, a reminder that this cult was a blending of monotheism and earlier paganism.

By promoting the cult and the consolidation of divine power into Sol, Roman emperors were able to please the military and also enhance their own power by identifying Sol as the source of imperial legitimacy; in some cases the emperors were able to promote themselves as the personification of Solon earth.

Constantine in the early 4th century advanced the pagan cult of Sol Invictus to the height of its popularity. Among his efforts was the minting of this special coin dedicated to Sol. Constantine also built his famous Arch in Rome, inscribed with several references to Sol Invictus, and positioned it carefully to align with the colossal 100' bronze statue of Sol that adjoined the Coliseum at the time. The rising popularity Christianity in Rome's rural areas was a factor in Constantine’s later adoption of Christianity as the Empire's official religious—a transition arguably made easier by the preceding, well accepted ideas embodied in and popularized by the cult of Sol Invictus." ..Biblical Artifacts Ancient Coins and Artifacts from the Holy Land

The text of Constantine's Sunday Law of 321 A.D.:
Quote
"On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for gain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantinebeing consuls each of them the second time.")
Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; translated in History of the Christian Church, Philip Schaff, D.D., (7-vol.ed.) Vol. III, p.380. New York, 1884

The early believers kept Saturday as the Sabbath until March 7, 321 CE when Constantine passed his law requiring believers to worship on Sunday, the day the pagans worshiped the sun-god, Sol Invictus. Believers continued to keep Saturday as the Sabbath but gradually were swept aside as the day of the sun took root in the empire, and we see the start of serious oppression for the day of worship, and many believers began to be persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for keeping the Sabbath.
All church historians will tell you that the early Christians reserved the 1'' day of the week
(Sunday), as a special day when all believers met together to preach and to feast on the
Word of God. This is not merely a fact of church history. The scripture is the final proof:

Acts 20:7 - "And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to
break bread, Paul preached unto them, and continued his speech until midnight. "
 
Upvote 0

Albion

Facilitator
Dec 8, 2004
111,138
33,258
✟583,842.00
Country
United States
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Married
Exactly correct, renniks.

If Constantine in 321 AD was responsible for making Sunday the day of worship for the Christian churches, Acts 20:7 would have to have been written after that date, which we all know is not the case.

Incidentally, Constantine did NOT make Christianity the "official" religion of Rome, so our friend's reference work is incorrect about that rather fundamental fact also.
 
Upvote 0

eleos1954

God is Love
Supporter
Nov 14, 2017
9,696
5,613
Utah
✟713,367.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
All church historians will tell you that the early Christians reserved the 1'' day of the week
(Sunday), as a special day when all believers met together to preach and to feast on the
Word of God. This is not merely a fact of church history. The scripture is the final proof:

Acts 20:7 - "And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to
break bread, Paul preached unto them, and continued his speech until midnight. "

All church historians

Give us a list of a few ... and what they said about it.
 
Upvote 0

Albion

Facilitator
Dec 8, 2004
111,138
33,258
✟583,842.00
Country
United States
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Married
Give us a list of a few ... and what they said about it.
Compiling that would be quite a large project for an online discussion board, but here's one:

A History of Christian Worship, Oscar Hardman, University of London Press

"By the end of the first century, however, the first day of the week had come to be generally observed as the Lord's Day, and to be invariably marked by the celebration of the Memorial of the Passion, which had taken to itself the commonest of titles, the name Eucharist or Thanksgiving." (pg. 31)
 
Upvote 0

eleos1954

God is Love
Supporter
Nov 14, 2017
9,696
5,613
Utah
✟713,367.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
Compiling that would be quite a large project for an online discussion board, but here's one:

A History of Christian Worship, Oscar Hardman, University of London Press

"By the end of the first century, however, the first day of the week had come to be generally observed as the Lord's Day, and to be invariably marked by the celebration of the Memorial of the Passion, which had taken to itself the commonest of titles, the name Eucharist or Thanksgiving." (pg. 31)

Doesn't really matter ... it goes way back before then and is recorded in the Bible

We should observe the seventh day of the week (Saturday), from even to even, as the Sabbath of the Lord our God. Evening is at sunset when day ends and another day begins. No other day has ever been sanctified as the day of rest. The Sabbath Day begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday.

God sanctified the 7th day Sabbath at creation .... who can change that which God created from the beginning? No one.

Jesus kept the 7th Day Sabbath and we are to walk in HIS steps .... not the steps of man.

1 Peter 2:21

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
 
Upvote 0

Albion

Facilitator
Dec 8, 2004
111,138
33,258
✟583,842.00
Country
United States
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Married
Doesn't really matter ... it goes way back before then and is recorded in the Bible
Oh. NOW it doesn't matter. Not since your challenge to have some historian's opinion cited concerning the matter was answered.

We should observe the seventh day of the week (Saturday), from even to even, as the Sabbath of the Lord our God.

That would be your opinion then, and I presume that no one is preventing you from worshipping on Saturday.

But the challenge was to show that the Christian churches worshipped on Sunday prior to Constantine...and that was answered. They did.
 
Upvote 0

eleos1954

God is Love
Supporter
Nov 14, 2017
9,696
5,613
Utah
✟713,367.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
Oh. NOW it doesn't matter. Not since your challenge to have some historian's opinion cited concerning the matter was answered.



That would be your opinion then, and I presume that no one is preventing you from worshipping on Saturday.

But the challenge was to show that the Christian churches worshipped on Sunday prior to Constantine...and that was answered. They did.

Yes, I understand but then ... church teachings can be in error now can't they? Yes.
So .. in that regard back to His Word .... and yeah it really doesn't matter when Sunday keeping crept into the church and became a tradition .... Jesus kept the Sabbath .... and we are to walk in His steps.

Here's more info about it as well ...

Catholic Church Admits They Made the Change | Sabbath Truth
 
Upvote 0

Albion

Facilitator
Dec 8, 2004
111,138
33,258
✟583,842.00
Country
United States
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Married
Yes, I understand but then ... church teachings can be in error now can't they? Yes.
What's the error supposed to be in this case, then? The issue was not whether the early Christians were right to worship on Sunday or not.

It was when that practice started. The claim was made here that it was inaugurated by Constantine in the 300s, but that claim was incorrect.
 
Upvote 0

eleos1954

God is Love
Supporter
Nov 14, 2017
9,696
5,613
Utah
✟713,367.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
What's the error supposed to be in this case, then? The issue was not whether the early Christians were right to worship on Sunday or not.

It was when that practice started. The claim was made here that it was inaugurated by Constantine in the 300s, but that claim was incorrect.

Well ... I'd say who cares WHEN it started ... point is ... the more important point is ... God didn't change the day .... man did. It did indeed became more prevalent during and following the days of Constantine.

Inaugurate
to put something into use or action officially

On 7 March 321, Constantine I, Rome's first Christian Emperor (see Constantine and Christianity), decreed that Sunday would be observed as the Roman day of rest:

On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.

An Emperor's degree is an official action.
 
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

Albion

Facilitator
Dec 8, 2004
111,138
33,258
✟583,842.00
Country
United States
Faith
Anglican
Marital Status
Married
Well ... I'd say who cares WHEN it started ...
I understand, but the discussion had been about the WHEN.

the point is ... the more important point is ... God didn't change the day .... man did.
Being a believer that the Holy Scriptures are inspired, most of us cannot simply throw out parts that we don't care for. I hope you can understand this POV. It's not as though we're talking about something that is demonstrably non-Scriptural but practiced in some denominations anyway like, for example, having a Pope figure who is considered to be infallible.

It did indeed became more prevalent during and following the days of Constantine.
I am pleased that you now agree with us.

Inaugurate
to put something into use or action officially
No, it's to start up something. At least that is how I was using the word, so if you want to press the point, we can just exchange it for "started it." ;) The Christian religion was not made the official religion of the Roman state until 395 AD and under a different emperor.
 
Upvote 0

eleos1954

God is Love
Supporter
Nov 14, 2017
9,696
5,613
Utah
✟713,367.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
I understand, but the discussion had been about the WHEN.


Being a believer that the Holy Scriptures are inspired, most of us cannot simply throw out parts that we don't care for. I hope you can understand this POV. It's not as though we're talking about something that is demonstrably non-Scriptural but practiced in some denominations anyway like, for example, having a Pope figure who is considered to be infallible.


I am pleased that you now agree with us.


No, it's to start up something. At least that is how I was using the word, so if you want to press the point, we can just exchange it for "started it." ;) The Christian religion was not made the official religion of the Roman state until 395 AD and under a different emperor.

Well ... go argue with the dictionary people about the definition of the word ;o)

It would seem to me the important point is Sunday keeping came into the churches through men (and not through the Word of God) and became a tradition largely perpetuated through the Roman Catholic church (and still is today - by most "protestants" no less) ... and not through the teachings of Jesus who is our example in everything.


Being a believer that the Holy Scriptures are inspired, most of us cannot simply throw out parts that we don't care for.

I would agree and that would include the 10 commandments of which there is the 4th ... remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy. Yet many do not and ignore the commandment and defend the man-made tradition of keeping sunday instead. Some dismiss the 10 commandments entirely!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

eleos1954

God is Love
Supporter
Nov 14, 2017
9,696
5,613
Utah
✟713,367.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
Well ... go argue with the dictionary people about the definition of the word ;o)

It would seem to me the important point is Sunday keeping came into the churches through men (and not through the Word of God) and became a tradition largely perpetuated through the Roman Catholic church (and still is today - by most "protestants" no less) ... and not through the teachings of Jesus who is our example in everything.

I would agree and that would include the 10 commandments of which there is the 4th ... remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy. Yet many do not and ignore the commandment and defend the man-made tradition of keeping sunday instead. Some dismiss the 10 commandments entirely!

I hope you can understand this POV. It's not as though we're talking about something that is demonstrably non-Scriptural but practiced in some denominations anyway like, ** for example, having a Pope figure who is considered to be infallible.

talk about demonstrable ... Jesus kept the Sabbath ... even in His death.

In An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine,
Q. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.

Q. How prove you that?
A. Because by keeping Sunday, they (sunday keeping Protestants) acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest [of the feasts] by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.
–Rev. Henry Tuberville, D.D. (R.C.), (1833), page 58.

In A Doctrinal Catechism,Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her. She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
–Rev. Stephen Keenan, (1851), p. 174.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0