Apologetics for the Masses #310 - Moving the Sabbath to Sunday

Topic

Did the Catholic Church change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?

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General Comments

Hey folks,

Two things, and these are specifically for people in the Diocese of Birmingham:

1) Tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 30th) is a wonderful opportunity to experience the beauty and the glory of the Latin Mass. The Cathedral of Saint Paul will have a traditional Latin Mass tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock with both Bishop Baker and Bishop Foley in attendance. The Mass is to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, the Apostolic Letter from Pope Benedict that opened the doors for a wider use of the Latin Mass. So, to celebrate the Latin Mass, to satisfy your curiousity, or simply as a show of support for our brothers and sisters in the Latin Mass community, please come out to St. Paul's Cathedral at 10:00 AM tomorrow and experience the beauty and the wonder of this ancient liturgy. It is going to be awesome...

2) Bishop Baker invites each of you to join with him this Sunday (October 1st), at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, to pray the annual Diocesan Rosary for Life and Vocations. We will pray the Joyful Mysteries for Life and the Luminous Mysteries for Vocations. Adoration and the Rosary begin at 3:00 PM in the Lourdes Grotto at the Shrine. This is an absolutely wonderful, peaceful, and prayerful event, so please join us at the Shrine...and bring your family.

Introduction

Got an email the other day asking about how to defend the claim of Seventh Day Adventists that the Catholic Church changed the Sabbath to Sunday and, in doing so, acted in a manner contrary to the Word of God. So, I thought I would show you how to respond to that claim.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

"I would like to suggest [you] doing a lesson on Sunday as being the day for Christians and not the Saturday Sabbath as endorsed by Seventh Day Adventists. I have a relative that belongs to that misguided group and I would like to learn how to guide them out of there and into the true church - the Catholic Church."

This is how I respond to Seventh Day Adventists (SDA):

First, I agree with them that it was indeed the Catholic Church that changed the day of worship for Christians from Saturday to Sunday. And I point out that since this change can be traced back to the earliest years of Christianity, the SDA's are essentially agreeing with Catholics that it was the Catholic Church which was the original Christian church founded by Jesus. And I make note of the fact that the Scriptures tell us that the church founded by Jesus was guided by the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17; 16:13).

Next, I point them to Matt 16:19 and Matt 18:18 and show them that the church Jesus founded was given, by Him, the authority to bind and loose on earth what would then be bound and loosed in Heaven. And this binding and loosing authority is why the Catholic Church was able to change the day of worship to Sunday.

Now, of course, they generally disagree with anything I've said to this point, so I ask them a couple of questions to drive home the point: 1) If the Catholic Church wasn't the original Christian church, then how can you claim it was the Catholic Church that changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday? 2) You do believe Jesus gave His church the power to bind and loose as it says in Matt 16 and 18, right? Well, can you tell me what your church has ever bound and loosed on earth that is also bound and loosed in Heaven?

This last question is to make the point that if they believe their church is THE church - if it is a true church - then it should have the power to bind and loose on earth AND IN HEAVEN. This means the church has the authority to make rulings that are binding on all Christians and that God Himself enforces. But I've never heard of an SDA claiming such authority for their church. If Jesus gave the church the power to bind and loose, then to be a true church it would at least claim to have the authority to bind and loose. Furthermore, it would have used that authority - I mean, why would Jesus give the church the authority to bind and loose and the church never use it? That makes no sense.

Now, this is not "proof" their church is a false church, but remember, you're not out to "prove" anything, you're just building the case a little bit of evidence at a time. One other thing you could throw in somewhere along the line is to ask them if they know why their church is called "Adventist." The point here is that the founding of their church can be historically traced back to the 1800's and an American preacher named William Miller. He incorrectly predicted the 2nd Coming (or 2nd Advent) of Christ in the 1840's - twice. So his followers were called Adventists. One of his disciples was Ellen Gould White who was the founder of what we now know as the Seventh Day Adventists.

In other words, their denomination can be traced back to only about 150 years ago, which means it is not the church founded by Jesus Christ in Israel 2000 years ago. And, it came into existence because of a preacher who incorrectly predicted the date of the 2nd Coming. He was wrong in what he taught. Not to mention, that by saying he knew the date of the 2nd Coming, he was placing himself above Christ, who said that no one knows the day or the hour of the 2nd Coming (Matt 24:36). Would I want to be a part of a "church" that traces itself back to a preacher who lived only 150 years ago and who thought he knew more than the Bible? Don't think so....

In addition to all of that, we have evidence, from the Bible, that shows the early Christians were worshipping on Sunday as a matter of course. In Acts 20:7, we are told that the Christians were gathered together "on the first day of the week" to "break bread." This breaking of bread is also known as the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper, as Protestants would call it. It is a part of Christian worship. So, Acts 20:7 shows the Christians gathered together on the first day of the week, Sunday, to worship.

This is also backed up by 1 Cor 16:2 when Paul tells the Corinthians that they are to put something aside for the church in Jerusalem on "the first day of every week" - Sunday. Hmmm...were they perhaps taking up a collection every Sunday when they went to church? That's a reasonable explanation.

But, the Scripture passage that I use most often, and which I believe is the strongest evidence that Christians were indeed worshipping on a Sunday, or at least not on Saturday, is from Colossians 2:16. The Colossian Christians were, for the most part, Gentiles. They were, however, like the Galatians, being pressured by Judaizers to adhere to the Old Law - the dietary laws, the festivals, and the Sabbath. So, in chapter 2, verse 16, Paul tells them not to let anyone judge them in regard to "questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath."

That passage makes absolutely no sense unless the Colossians were not adhering to the Jewish practices regarding kosher food, celebrating the festivals and the new moons, and particularly the Sabbath (Saturday) worship. So, not only is it obvious that the Gentile Christians were not worshipping on Saturday, but it is obvious that Paul had absolutely no problem with that. So, if Paul had no problem with it, the question becomes: Why do the Seventh Day Adventists have a problem with it?

I want to finish this up by noting that Sunday is not the new "Sabbath." A lot of Catholics, and non-Catholic Christians as well, will often refer to Sunday as the Sabbath for Christians, but technically it isn't. Sunday has replaced the Sabbath for Christians. The Catechism says, "Just as the seventh day, or Sabbath, completes the first creation, so the 'eighth day,' Sunday, the day of the week on which Jesus rose from the dead, is celebrated as the 'holy day' by Christians - the day on which the 'new creation' began. Thus the Christian observance of Sunday fulfills the commandment to remember and keep holy the Sabbath day."

Well, one last point: Always remember that your job is not to convert anyone...that is the Holy Spirit's job. Your job is to just throw out the seeds and pray that they land on good soil. So, if you make the points above, or any other points along these lines, with an SDA and seem to be getting nowhere, do not get frustrated and do not give up hope. Just keep making the points and keep praying...

Closing Comments

I hope all of you have a great week. Please remember to share this on social media using the tabs at the top and bottom of this newsletter...

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