Information Related to "Question and Answers - Jul/Aug 2005"
| Audio/Video |
Question: I disagree with the logic in your Good News sidebar titled "Do All Churches Get Their Teaching From the Bible?" (May-June 2005, p. 19), which stated that there is no directive in the Scriptures for Sunday worship and that "people who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically . . . keep Saturday holy."
I believe Scripture does present Sunday, the first day of the week, as a day of worship (see Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Revelation 1:10)—as a change made by the apostles. Also, we gentiles may be under different commandments than the Jews.
J.F.B., Aguilar, Colorado
Answer: Thank you for giving us an opportunity to explain these comments in greater detail.
Please note that the quotes in that sidebar were actually admissions from Catholic authorities and publications acknowledging the fact that the Roman Catholic Church replaced observance of the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath with Sunday, the first day of the week, based on church authority rather than Scripture.
While we agree with their admissions, which are well borne out in history, we strongly disagree that any person or church has the authority to change such a direct commandment from God—particularly one of the Ten Commandments.
As for the scriptural passages you mention, do they refer to worship on Sunday? In fact they do not, and the Bible nowhere shows the first-century apostles changing the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday.
Each of these passages is thoroughly addressed and explained on pages 36-37 of our free booklet Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest under the title "Was Sunday the New Testament Day of Worship?" Following are some of the essential points regarding these passages.
"One scripture commonly cited to justify Sunday worship is Revelation 1:10, where John said, 'I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day' . . . Nowhere does the Bible define 'Lord's Day' as the first day of the week . . . If this were referring to a day of the week, we would have to conclude that John meant the seventh day, since Jesus Christ said He was the 'Lord of the Sabbath' (Mark 2:28)."
As our Sabbath booklet further explains, this passage in context refers John's vision of the future period the Bible repeatedly calls "the Day of the Lord," a time when many end-time prophecies will be fulfilled. It is not referring to a day of the week.
The next scripture addressed is Acts 20:7 about breaking bread. This term does not denote a religious service but the dividing of loaves of bread for eating a meal—as other New Testament passages show. Since days in the Bible begin and end at sunset (compare Genesis 1:5; Leviticus 23:32), the events described in Acts 20 begin with a meal on Saturday evening after the Sabbath had ended (as several translations clearly show).
As our Sabbath booklet explains about this passage: "After speaking and talking all night [after sundown], Paul the next morning walked almost 20 miles to Assos to meet the rest of the people in his group who had sailed there (verses 11,13-14). Rather than describing a religious service on Sunday, this passage actually documents Paul walking 20 miles on foot on the first day of the week—hardly making it a day of rest and worship for him!"
Now consider 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, widely assumed to be an offertory collection during a Sunday worship service. Although a collection did take place on the first day of the week, nowhere is it stated that a worship service was involved. This was actually a special circumstance—part of a wider famine-relief effort aimed at providing Church members in Judea with food supplies. As some Bible commentaries note, this appears to be the same relief effort mentioned in Acts 11:28-30.
As the booklet explains: "These contributions were to be 'laid aside' and 'stored up,' not brought to a church service and collected there. To say this is an account of a collection taken up during a Sunday worship service is to read into the Bible an unwarranted personal interpretation."
Again, these three passages of Scripture are all explained in considerably greater detail in our free booklet Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest.
What, then, of the idea that Jews are required to keep the Sabbath but Christians are not? After the creation of Adam and Eve, God rested on the seventh day and sanctified it—setting it apart as the Sabbath day (Genesis 2:1-3). This was some 2,000 years before the Jewish people ever came on the scene.
Notice further what Leviticus 23:1-3 says regarding ownership of the Sabbath: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations [mandatory sacred assemblies], these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings" (emphasis added throughout).
Here God repeatedly emphasizes that the Sabbath belongs to Him, not to any particular group of people. As for whom it was made, Jesus said "the Sabbath was made for humankind" (Mark 2:27, New Revised Standard Version)—that is, for all people, not just the Jews.
Another key to understanding the Sabbath as the day all Christians should observe is the often-overlooked fact that it is one of the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:11 shows that the rationale for keeping it is based on the fact that God rested, blessed and hallowed the seventh day at creation, which concerns all humanity, not just the Jewish people. (Request our free booklet The Ten Commandments, noting especially pages 31–36.)
Again, if you carefully read and study our free booklet Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest, you will discover that the significance and importance of this particular day is discussed from practically every possible angle.
Editor's note: Space limitations often prevent us from answering all questions in every detail, thus letters may be shortened and/or additional questions omitted. We want to reply to as many different readers as possible. That is why we urge our readers to request or download the appropriate free publications that more fully address such questions and concerns.
| © 1995-2022 United
Church of God, an International Association Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@gnmagazine.org. Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to webmaster@gnmagazine.org. |
|
Related Information:
Table of Contents that includes "Question and Answers - Jul/Aug 2005"
Origin of article "Question and Answers - Jul/Aug 2005"
Keywords: questions and answers Sunday observance
Sunday: