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The Sunday Law Edict Of March 7, 321 A.D.

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Lewis

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The seventh day was sanctified by God in the beginning (Gen. 2:3), was kept by Israel and Gentiles to the end of the Bible, and was to be obeyed as a sign and perpetual covenant. Ecclesiastical history proves that early Christians kept Saturday as the Sabbath.

"16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." (Ex. 31)

"27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ... 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal. 3)

The observance of Sunday as the Sabbath was by decree of the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine in 321 AD. He decreed the Christian religion to be the religion of the state to settle religious controversy; but, was never baptized until a short time before his death in 337 AD. He issued an edict on March 7, 321 AD, "Let all the judges and towns people, and the occupation of all trades rest ON THE VENERABLE DAY OF THE SUN: but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture: because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines: lest, the critical moment let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven." The Book of Facts, by H. M. Rouff, p. 542, noted, "The FIRST law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of Sunday is known to have been ordained, is the Edict of Constantine, A. D. 321."

At the beginning of a dispensation, men are taught, "precept upon precept; line upon line." (Isa. 28:10) When the dispensation was given to the Gentiles, after Jesus crucifixion, the Apostles' teachings were based upon this same principle. The Gentiles were first given little more than the milk of the gospel (first principles). "25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication." (Acts 21) It is possible that the very first Gentile believers did not obey the Jewish Sabbath. I have no record that tells when they first began to obey the Sabbath.

It has been a tradition of the Gentiles to worship on Sunday since the days of Babylon. It was the "venerable day of the sun." Even Jesus found it most convenient to assemble the people on Sunday. It came to be called the Lord's day. As a Jew, though, he always kept Saturday as the Sabbath. He was harassed for even healing on the Sabbath. A dispensation was given under Joseph; which allowed the early latter day saints to observe Sunday. Sunday was not the Sabbath; but, the Lord allowed that day to be kept by the Gentiles for a time. God had not yet commanded the people to obey the original Sabbath.

When James J. Strang translated the Book of the Law of the Lord from ancient plates taken from those given to Moses, that dispensation ended and the people were commanded to keep the seventh day of the week. When the Book of the Law was translated, those following James J. Strang were once again bound by the original law. By God teaching "line upon line, and precept upon precept," those who did not follow James were left to observe, "the venerable day of the sun." Only those who followed James J. Strang received the Book of the Law and the renewed commandment to keep the original Sabbath-- the seventh day, Saturday!

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." (Book of the Law, p. 22) James J. Strang wrote in his notes, "1. The day of rest originated in the rest of God, when he ceased the work of creation, at the making of man, to have dominion over the earth.

"2. It was had in remembrance as an institution of God, before promulgated by his voice in Sinai; (Gen. ii, 2, 3. Ex. xvi, 23;) and there is no ground for believing that the sanctifying of the Sabbath, was not a law among the Patriarchs and the Antediluvians, because it is not mentioned in the scriptures; for from the time of Moses until that of Solomon, when it was unquestionably in force, it is nowhere mentioned.

"3. Throughout Christendom, with some slight exceptions, the first day, and not the seventh, is kept as a Sabbath. For this they have no warrant in the scriptures, and pretend to none. (Bucks Th. Dic. 'Sabbath.') The reason given for the change, is, that Christ raised from the dead the first day, and the attempt is to justify it by tradition, and the practice of the Church.

"4. But, evidently, the Church have no power to change or abrogate a commandment of God, who required us to keep the seventh day, not any other day in the seven.

"5. The early Christians did undoubtedly frequently meet on the first day for religious worship, precisely as the Saints do nowadays, in exclusively Christian communities; not because they regarded it as the Sabbath of God, but because on that day, being the regular day of heathen festivals, men would come together to hear them.

"6. Keeping the first day as a Sabbath, instead of the seventh, is one of the innovations forced upon Christianity by the Emperour Constantine, to make the change of national religion less difficult.

"7. The very language of this Commandment, seems to presage the propensity of man to change the Sabbath; remember the Sabbath day; and God, foreseeing what wicked men would do, has placed on his chosen a special injunction that they keep that day in all their generations for a perpetual covenant; (Ex. xxxi, 13-17;) and awful penalties are denounced against those who abolish it.

"8. The Sabbath is appointed for men in every station in life. The crime of exacting labour of children and servants on the Sabbath day, is a great offence unto God. But it is the Sabbath of the beast as well as of men, and to work beasts for our pleasure or profit, is an offence unto God." (Ibid., pp. 22, 23)

The law of God on keeping the Sabbath was given for a thousand generations. "9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations...11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them." (Deut. 7) Only under special Gentile dispensations were the people permitted to observe, for a short time, Sunday. James J. Strang was the only successor of Joseph Smith to abide in this law of God.
http://www.mormonbeliefs.com/7th_day_sabbath.htm
 
You do err, you better research your statement a little better. Sunday worship has nothing to do with 321.
 
samuel said:
You do err, you better research your statement a little better. Sunday worship has nothing to do with 321.

It has EVERYTHING to do with AD321.
 
Lewis W said:
The observance of Sunday as the Sabbath was by decree of the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine in 321 AD. He decreed the Christian religion to be the religion of the state to settle religious controversy; but, was never baptized until a short time before his death in 337 AD. He issued an edict on March 7, 321 AD, "Let all the judges and towns people, and the occupation of all trades rest ON THE VENERABLE DAY OF THE SUN: but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture: because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines: lest, the critical moment let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven." The Book of Facts, by H. M. Rouff, p. 542, noted, "The FIRST law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of Sunday is known to have been ordained, is the Edict of Constantine, A. D. 321."

Utterly Ridiculous!

There are a number of Christian writings WAY BEFORE 321 AD that identify Sunday as the Day of the Lord in honor of the Resurrection. Justin the Martyr is only one example of many:

CHAP. LXVII.--WEEKLY WORSHIP OF THE CHRISTIANS.

And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.

Justin the Marytry, First Apology, c. 150 AD

Catholics were celebrating the Mass on Sunday for centuries before Constantine came around...

Regards
 
The Sunday law of 321 started to cement the amalgamation of pagan and Christian beliefs, Sunday being the chief one. In one fell swoop, it accomodated both groups under the same banner. It was the first blue law but it was not the first time Sunday worship came up.

Justin Martyr along with Barnabas did indeed promote it to Emporer Hadrian but not because it was an apostolic institution or a widespread Christian practice, but mostly because of anti-Semitism

As a matter of fact, the first reason for Justin and Barnabas to worship on Sunday was the 'eighth day' argument, and not merely because Jesus rose on that day.

However, most of Christendom observed the seventh day Sabbath and even when Sunday worship began to be prominent, the Sabbath was kept alongside it and was not a substitute for it. As a matter of fact that HEAD church in Jerusalem kept strictly Sabbath until the 5th century.

Far from a 'Jewish observance' that 'found its termination at the cross' as many would like to promote it as.

Seems most of Christendom missed that teaching.
 
guibox said:
Justin Martyr along with Barnabas did indeed promote it to Emporer Hadrian but not because it was an apostolic institution or a widespread Christian practice, but mostly because of anti-Semitism

Justin was hardly anti-Semitic. While he showed the superiority of Christianity over Judaism, he was often found making the attachment that Christianity sprung from or fulfilled Judaism. Justin was formerly Gentile. While one could make an argument for Barnabas, I still don't see this as the REASON for a Sunday worship day... Who threw whom out of the Synagogues?

guibox said:
As a matter of fact, the first reason for Justin and Barnabas to worship on Sunday was the 'eighth day' argument, and not merely because Jesus rose on that day.

I see you read what I clipped...

But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead

This is not unusual, as the Church was teaching recapitulation - back to St. Paul and the New Adam. This is not unusual. There has been a New Creation!

guibox said:
However, most of Christendom observed the seventh day Sabbath and even when Sunday worship began to be prominent, the Sabbath was kept alongside it and was not a substitute for it. As a matter of fact that HEAD church in Jerusalem kept strictly Sabbath until the 5th century.

Now you are speculating. I have read that the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were wont to let go of the "works of the Law", those rituals that made them who they were. Thus, the Sabbath remained on Saturday THERE. This is not surprising, given that the Jewish culture was largely wiped out by 150 AD due to the revolts against Rome. Naturally, they would try to maintain traditions of their forefathers.

But it doesn't follow that Gentiles would maintain Saturday AND Sunday. Gentile Christians, making up MOST of Christianity by the time of Justin, were NOT going to take on Jewish holidays when the Church had already been celebrating Sunday as a replacement. Again, the Christians had been REMOVED from the Synagogues around 80 AD. WHY would Gentile Christians maintain Saturday worship - and where? Note in my clip I posted last time, the Scriptures were being read ON SUNDAY! There was no separate Scripture reading and then the next day, a separate Eucharist, as in the first few generations. All was combined in one service, as Justin writes. I do not recall any writers of the second century discussing TWO separate services, one on Sat. and one on Sun...

Regards
 
last and first days considered. . .

The controversy is about the the word 'change' in the discussion about Saturday which the Jews kept in the early church -call it the first century, and Sunday where believers met for worship and breaking bread. The point is that the believers who met on sunday for worship were the Jews of the early church.

Now our Lord was crucified on friday, the day of preparation, entombed by Saturday - which was the Sabbath (and so resting perfectly)and raised on Sunday which happens to be the first day of the week and also the first day of the new creation. From this: can we surmise that the Sabbath on which our Lord was entombed was in fact the last day of the old creation? I think so.

My argument does not enter into the necessity or otherwise of keeping the Sabbath but rather to distinguish the Sabbath from the first day of the week. I assume that the first christians or early church was primarily Jewish.


In Christ: Stranger.
 
stranger said:
Now our Lord was crucified on friday, the day of preparation, entombed by Saturday - which was the Sabbath (and so resting perfectly)and raised on Sunday which happens to be the first day of the week

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Hmm, can you explain what three days and three nights Yeshua was in the heart of the earth beginning from Friday evening to Sunday morning?
 
TanNinety said:
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Hmm, can you explain what three days and three nights Yeshua was in the heart of the earth beginning from Friday evening to Sunday morning?

That's right. We can get ONE full day and a portion each of TWO days but we can certainly only get TWO nights! What say the literalists on this?
 
But there have already been endless darkside clones made of these sunday/saturday worship debate threads. I don't have enough appendages on my body to even count how many have been made on this topic...
 
cybershark5886 said:
But there have already been endless darkside clones made of these sunday/saturday worship debate threads. I don't have enough appendages on my body to even count how many have been made on this topic...
Well yes there have been a lot on this subject. And thats ok. If people do not want to reply to it' thats ok. But there are some who want to.
 
TanNinety said:
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Hmm, can you explain what three days and three nights Yeshua was in the heart of the earth beginning from Friday evening to Sunday morning?

Hi TanNinety,

From: Matt 27:50- 28:6
Friday day one, death+burial/buried (evening)
Saturday day two buried
Sunday day three buried /raised (morning)

I cannot see that the timetable can be reconciled with 24+24+24=72 hours as you and Sputnikboy point out - I agree. But I am happy with the explanation that any event occurring on the first day is counted as day one. . .

Seasons greetings gentlemen!

In Christ: Stranger
 
francisdesales said:
Utterly Ridiculous!

Agreed.

The following notes and quotes were taken from http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/

OT = The believer was to rest on the seventh day (Exodus 20:8-10).
NT = The believer is to rest seven days --"today" and every day! (Heb. 4:1-11).

OT = God's work of creation (Exodus 20:11).
NT = God’s work of the new creation/redemption(see Mark 15:25,33-37).

OT = After His finished work of creation God rested (Genesis 2:1-3).
NT = After His finished work of redemption Christ rested and "SAT DOWN" (John 19:30; Hebrews 1:3).

OT = The Old Testament believer was to stop working on Saturday (Exodus 20:10).
NT = The New Testament believer is to stop working and to cease from his own works every day of the week (Heb. 4:1-11). It is a Faith-Rest Life based on the finished work of Christ, in the power of God the Holy Spirit.

27. Should believers today observe the Sabbath? The answer is YES! There is a Sabbath rest for the people of God today (Heb. 4:9). Believers in Christ need to rest and to cease from their own works (Heb. 4:10) so that the living God might work in and through them (Philippians 2:13; Heb. 13:21). This "faith-rest life" should be the daily portion of every believer. May we enter into this rest! May unbelief not hinder us!


To sum up, we can find no evidence of a Sabbath set apart for worship before the giving of the law at Sinai.

~JM~
 
That is exactly what I have been saying all of this time. How difficult is that to understand? Simply amazing that the cults of society have to continue to suppress their people by legalistic means in the days of the New Covenant.
 
stranger said:
Hi TanNinety,

From: Matt 27:50- 28:6
Friday day one, death+burial/buried (evening)
Saturday day two buried
Sunday day three buried /raised (morning)

I cannot see that the timetable can be reconciled with 24+24+24=72 hours as you and Sputnikboy point out - I agree. But I am happy with the explanation that any event occurring on the first day is counted as day one. . .

Seasons greetings gentlemen!

In Christ: Stranger
Hi Stranger,

This topic has been given great consideration and careful study. After spending much time researching and praying over this, it seems that the traditional understanding of this doesn't hold water.

I invite you to read through this thread.

http://www.christianforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=22192

I know it's an old topic. but please feel free to express your comments if you still don't agree after reading through the thread.

Peace,
Vic
 
Vic C. said:
Hi Stranger,

This topic has been given great consideration and careful study. After spending much time researching and praying over this, it seems that the traditional understanding of this doesn't hold water.

I invite you to read through this thread.

http://www.christianforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=22192

I know it's an old topic. but please feel free to express your comments if you still don't agree after reading through the thread.

Peace,
Vic

Hi Vic,

Your proposed table would be:

Wed. . . Christ died about 4.00pm. . . buried (night 1)
Thurs. . Day 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (night 2)
Fri. . . Day 2. . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . .. .. . .(night 3)
Sat. . . Day 3 . . . rose 'just before sunset'


I don't know what arguments have been brought against this. But yes,
this would be three full days and nights. If our Lord was buried at 6.00pm
and rose at 6.00pm - it would satisfy the belief that the resurrection occurred on the first day of the week - if only just.

I will be interested in what others think. Also Vic is the above table what you had in mind?

In Christ: stranger
 
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