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| <~~~ BACK most hates. We'll never be able to stop lying, slandering, or spreading gossip. We'll never be able to fully prevent our attitudes and our eyes from haughtiness. We'll never be free from committing injustice. Happily, we don't have to do it alone. In fact, we can't accomplish this on our own. God wants to and is eager to help us. All we have to do is ask. On the lighter side, this week's recommendation is a cartoon that may make you stop and think about just what Jesus *really* would do. You'll find it here: http://swordandspirit.com/_UPSTAIRS/toontown/ Questions Q: "The Old Testament says the Sabbath is on Saturday. How come Christians go to church on Sunday?" A: It's true that the Hebrews set aside Saturday as their holy day. Christians, on the other hand, made their holy day Sunday almost from the beginning. (Scholars know the practice dates back to at least 32 A.D.) We don't have ancient texts that specifically discuss the why's of this, but we can also safely assume the early Christian church didn't make the switch lightly. A very probable reason Christians switched to Sundays is that Christ was risen on Sunday. More cynical explanations say that one of the major competing (pagan) religions of the time had it's holy day on Sunday; therefore, the argument goes, Christians were trying to make their religion more palatable to pagans. However, early Christians were eager to set themselves apart from pagans. It's true that Easter and Christmas were scheduled so that they fit in with pagan festivals, but the switch to a Sunday Sabbath came long before Christians were interested in celebrating special holidays for Jesus' birth and death. Their primary goal in the 30s A.D. was to make sure they followed Jesus' teaching-and that included making certain they didn't fall into pagan rituals. Much later in church history (321 CE), Constantine decreed that all Christians should have their Sabbath on Sunday. This indicates that the tradition of the Sunday Sabbath had survived since shortly after Christ's resurrection. It may also indicate that not all Christians were using Sunday as their holy day. A little later, in 364 CE, the Church Council of Laodicea pronounced that Christians should not "Judiaze and be idle on Saturday." Later still, the Inquisition tried to entirely stamp out Christian worship on Saturday as "Jewish wickedness." Certainly these latter two historical events reek of anti-Semitism, but there's no indication whatsoever that the earliest Christian church was anti-semantic. In fact, most early Christians were Jewish themselves. The Old Testament uses neither the word Saturday or Sunday, and says only that we should preserve the seventh day as holy (Ex. 20:8-11). The New Testament also states "One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." (Rom. 14:5) GOT A QUESTION? I invite you to ask it. What stumps you? I'll do my best to find an answer! To ask a question, email me at [email protected]. (c) 2003 by Kristina Seleshanko. |
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