The Resurrection was not on Sunday!

The Resurrection Was Not on Sunday

by Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
1972

Was Jesus three days and three nights in the grave, as He said in Matthew 12:40? Can you figure three days and three nights between sunset "Good Friday" and sunrise Easter Sunday?

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IT IS COMMONLY supposed today that Jesus was crucified on Friday, and that the resurrection occurred about sunrise on Easter Sunday morning.

Few professing Christians have ever thought to question or to prove this "Good-Friday-Easter" tradition. Yet the Bible tells us to prove (test) all things. And you will be literally astounded by this proof.

For proof there is but one dependable authority, a sole historical record—the Bible.

Tradition No Proof

There were no eye-witnesses to the resurrection. Even so-called "apostolic fathers" had no source of information save that record which is today available to us—the biblical revelation. Any tradition, then, which conflicts with God's revelation must be dismissed.

What are the recorded facts?

The doubting Pharisees were asking Jesus for a sign—supernatural evidence—in proof of His Messiahship.

Jesus answered: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40).

Now consider, please, the tremendous import—the overwhelming significance—of Jesus' statement.

He expressly declared that the only sign He would give to prove He was the Messiah was that He should be just three days and three nights in the rock-hewn sepulcher in "the heart of the earth."

The Significance of the Sign

These Christ-rejecting Pharisees demanded proof. Jesus offered but one evidence. That evidence was not the fact of the resurrection itself. It was the length of time He would repose in His grave, before being resurrected.

Think what this means! Jesus staked His claim to being your Savior and mine upon remaining exactly three days and three nights in the tomb. If He remained just three days and three nights inside the earth, He would prove Himself the Savior—if He failed in this sign, He must be rejected as an impostor!

No wonder Satan has caused unbelievers to scoff at the story of Jonah and the "whale"! No wonder the devil has set up a tradition that denies Jesus is the Messiah!

The Dilemma of the Higher Critics

This one and only supernatural PROOF ever given by Jesus for His Messiahship has greatly bothered the commentators and the higher critics. Their attempts to explain away this sole proof for Christ's divinity (deity) are ludicrous in the extreme. For explain this away they must, or their "Good-Friday-Easter" tradition collapses.

One commentator says, "Of course we know that Jesus was actually in the tomb only half as long as He thought He would be!" Some expositors impose upon our credulity to the extent of asking us to believe that "in the Greek language, in which the New Testament was written, the expression 'three days and three nights' means three periods, either of day or of night."

Jesus, they say, was placed in the tomb shortly before sunset Friday, and rose at sunrise Sunday morning—two nights and one day.

The Bible Definition

But the Bible definition of the duration of "nights and days" is simple.

Even these same higher critics admit that in the Hebrew language, in which the book of Jonah was written, the expression "three days and three nights" means a period of 72 hours—three twelve-hour days and three twelve-hour nights.

Notice Jonah 1:17: "And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." This, they admit, was a period of 72 hours. And Jesus distinctly said that AS Jonah was three days and three nights in the great fish's belly, so He would be the same length of time in His grave.

As Jonah was in the "grave" (see marginal reference, Jonah 2:2) 72 hours, after which he was supernaturally resurrected by God, by being vomited up, to become a savior to the people of Nineveh upon proclaiming the warning to them, so should Jesus be 72 hours in His grave, thereupon being resurrected by God to become the savior of the world.

Did Jesus know how much time was in a "day" and in a "night"? Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day . . . but if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth" (John 11:9-10).

Notice the Bible definition of the expression, "the third day." Text after text tells us that Jesus rose the third day. Notice how the Bible defines the time required to fulfill "the third day."

In Genesis 1:4 God "divided the light from darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening [darkness] and the morning [light] were the first day. . . . And the evening [darkness] and the morning [light] were the second day. . . . And the evening [now three periods of darkness called night—three nights] and the morning [now three periods of light called day—three days] were the third day" (Gen. 1:4-13).

Here we have the only Bible definition which explains and counts up the amount of time involved in the expression "the third day." It includes three dark periods called "night," and three light periods called "day"—three days and three nights, and Jesus said they contained twelve hours for each period—a total of 72 hours.

That ought to be conclusive! Any seven-year-old, near the end of the second grade, could figure it easily.

What Is Wrong?

What is wrong with these plain, simple words of Jesus? How do these wise and prudent theologians know Jesus was crucified "Good Friday" and rose "Easter Sunday"?

The simple answer is, they do not know it—for it is not true! It is merely tradition, a tradition we have been taught from childhood and carelessly assumed! Jesus warns against "making the word of God of none effect through your tradition" (Mark 7:13).

We have examined two scriptural witnesses, in Matthew and in Jonah, both setting the duration of the body of Jesus in the tomb as three days and three nights, which the Scriptures plainly define as 72 hours of time. Now let us examine four other scriptural witnesses that prove the same thing.

Notice Mark 8:31. "And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and AFTER three days rise again."

(Any young second grader can figure this.) If Jesus had been killed on Friday, and then after one day He had risen, the resurrection would have occurred on Saturday evening. If after two days, it would have occurred Sunday evening, and if after three days, it would have occurred Monday evening!

Examine this text carefully. You cannot, by any process of arithmetic, figure any less than a full 72 hours—three days and three nights—in a resurrection which occurred three days after the crucifixion. If Jesus was in the grave only from Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, then this text too, must be torn out of your Bible or else you must reject Jesus Christ as an impostor! If He rose after three days, it might have been more than 72 hours, but it could not have been a second less.

Notice now Mark 9:31. ". . . They shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day." The duration expressed here must be between 48 and 72 hours. It could not be one second past 72 hours, and Jesus still rise the third day. And it could not be Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, because that it only 36 hours, carrying us into the middle of the second day, after He was killed.

In Matthew 27:63 Jesus is quoted as saying, "After three days I will rise again." This cannot possibly be figured as less than 72 full hours.

And in John 2:19-21, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and IN three days I will raise it up. . . . But he spake of the temple of his body." To be raised up IN three days after being destroyed, or crucified and buried, could not be more than 72 hours.

If we are to accept all the testimony of the Bible, we must conclude that Jesus was exactly three days and three nights—three full 24-hour days—72 hours in the grave, or the only supernatural proof He gave must fail.

The Time of Day of Resurrection

Now notice carefully this fact: In order to be three days and three nights—72 hours—in the tomb, our Lord had to be resurrected at exactly the same time of day that His body was buried in the tomb.

Let us realize that very vital fact.

If we can find the time of day of the burial, then we have found the time of day of the resurrection. If the burial, for instance, were at sunrise, then for the body to be left an even three days and three nights in the tomb, the resurrection likewise had to occur at sunrise, three days later. If the burial were at noon, the resurrection was at noon. If the burial were at sunset, the resurrection was at sunset, three days later.

The crucifixion day was called "the preparation," or day before "the Sabbath" (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54). This day ended at sunset, according to Bible reckoning (Leviticus 23:32).

Jesus cried out soon after "the ninth hour" or three o'clock in the afternoon (Matthew 27:46-50; Mark 15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46).

Yet Jesus was buried before this same day ended—before sunset (Matthew 27:57; Luke 23:52-54; John 19:42). John adds, "There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day." According to the laws observed by the Jews all dead bodies must be buried before the beginning of a Sabbath or feast day. Hence Jesus was buried before sunset on the same day He died. He died shortly after 3 p.m.

Therefore—notice carefully—the burial of Christ's body was in the late afternoon! It was between 3 p.m. and sunset as these scriptures prove.

And since the resurrection had to occur at the same time of day, three days later, the resurrection of Christ occurred, not at sunrise, but in the late afternoon, near sunset. Startling as this fact may be, it is the plain Bible truth!

If Jesus rose at any other time of day, He could not have been three days and three nights in His grave. If He rose at any other time of day, He failed to prove, by the only sign He gave that He was the true Messiah, the Son of the living Creator. Either He rose near the END of a day near sunset, or else He is not the Christ! He staked His claim on that one and only sign.

So a time-honored tradition must be shattered.

What Sabbath Followed the Crucifixion?

Now we come to an objection some may raise, yet the very point which proves this truth. Perhaps you have noticed that the Scriptures say the day after the crucifixion was a Sabbath. Hence, for centuries, people have blindly assumed the crucifixion was on Friday.

Now we have shown by all four Gospels that the crucifixion day was called "the preparation." The preparation day for the Sabbath. But for what Sabbath?

John's Gospel gives the definite answer: "It was the preparation of the Passover."

"For that sabbath day was an high day" (John 19:14, 31).

Just what is a "high day"? Ask any Jew! He will tell you it is one of the annual holy days, or feast days. The Israelites observed seven of these every year—every one called a Sabbath! Annual Sabbaths fall on certain annual calendar dates, and on different days of the week in different years, just like the Roman holidays now observed. These Sabbaths might fall on Monday, on Thursday, or on Sunday.

If you will notice the following texts, you will see these annual holy days were all called Sabbath days: Leviticus 16:31; 23:24, 26-32, 39.

Notice Matthew 26:2: "Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified." And if you will follow through this chapter you will see that Jesus was crucified on the Passover!

And what was the Passover? In the twelfth chapter of Exodus you will find the story of the original Passover. The children of Israel killed the lambs, and struck the blood over the doorposts and on the side posts of their houses, and wherever the blood had thus been applied the death angel passed over that house, sparing it from death. Following the Passover was a holy convocation or annual Sabbath.

Observe the dates: "And in the fourteenth day of the first month is THE PASSOVER of the Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the FEAST" (Numbers 28:16-17).

The Passover lamb, killed every year on the 14th of the first month called "Abib," was a type of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Christ is our Passover, sacrificed for us (I Corinthians 5:7).

Jesus was slain on the very same day the Passover had been slain every year. He was crucified on the 14th of Abib, the first Hebrew month of the year. And this day, the Passover, was the day before—and the preparation for—the Feast day, or annual high day Sabbath, which occurred on the 15th of Abib. This Sabbath might occur on any day of the week. Frequently it occurs, and is observed even today, on Thursday. For instance, this "high-day" Sabbath came on Thursday in 1972, 1975 and 1979, and will occur on Thursday in 1982, 1986 and 1989.

And the Hebrew calendar shows that in the year Jesus was crucified, the 14th of Abib, Passover day, the day Jesus was crucified, was Wednesday. And the annual Sabbath was Thursday. This was the Sabbath that drew on as Joseph of Arimathea hastened to bury the body of Jesus late that Wednesday afternoon. There were two separate Sabbaths that week!

What Day Was the Resurrection?

Now which day of the week was the resurrection day?

The first investigators, Mary Magdalene and her companions, came to the sepulcher on the first day of the week (Sunday) very early, while it was yet dark, as the sun was beginning to rise, at dawn (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).

Now here are the texts most people have supposed stated the resurrection was at sunrise Sunday morning. But they do not say that!

When the women arrived, the tomb was already open! At that time Sunday morning while it was yet dark, Jesus was not there! Notice how the angel says, "He is not here, but is risen" (see Mark 16:6; Luke 24:6; Matthew 28:5-6).

Jesus was already risen at sunset Sunday morning! Of course He was. He rose from the grave in the late afternoon, near sunset!

And since we know Christ was buried late Wednesday afternoon, and that the resurrection took place at the same time of day three days later, we now know the resurrection of Christ occurred late Saturday afternoon.

The Sabbath day ended at sunset. It was late on that day, before the beginning of the first day of the week. It was not, then, a Sunday resurrection at all. It was a Sabbath resurrection!

Did Christ Fulfill His Sign?

Now all this is based on the supposition that Jesus did fulfill His only sign of being three days and three nights in the grave. All our evidence is based on the claims of Jesus before His crucifixion. But some of the higher critics and doctors of divinity tell us that Jesus made a mistake—that He was only in the tomb half as long as He expected to be. Let us have proof as to whether He did spend the exact amount of time in the grave He said He would.

Notice that in Matthew 28:6, the angel of the Lord gives this testimony, which we now present as evidence. "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." And He certainly did not rise AS He said unless He rose at the precise TIME that He had said! So we have the proof of the angel of the Lord, recorded in the sacred Word of God that Jesus did fulfill His sign—He was three days and three nights in the earth—He did rise Sabbath afternoon, and not on Sunday morning.

Another proof that Christ was in the grave the full length of time He expected to be is found in I Corinthians 15:3-4: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."

His death and burial were according to the Scriptures—not contrary to them.

The third day following His Wednesday burial was the Sabbath; three full days spent in the grave ended Saturday afternoon just prior to sunset, not Sunday morning.

Which Day Was the Crucifixion?

Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, the middle day of the week. He died shortly after 3 p.m. that afternoon; was buried before sunset Wednesday evening. Now count the three days and three nights. His body was Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights in the grave—three nights. It also was there through the daylight part of Thursday, Friday and Saturday—three days. He rose Saturday the Sabbath—late afternoon, shortly before sunset, at the same time of day that He was buried!

It is significant that in Daniel's prophecy of the "seventy weeks" (Daniel 9:24-27), Jesus was to be cut off "in the midst of the week." While this prophecy has the application of a day for a year, so that this 70th week became a literal seven years, Christ being "cut off" after three-and-a-half years' ministry, as He was, yet it is significant that He was also "cut off" on the middle day of a literal week.

Honest Objections Examined

Someone is sure to notice Mark 16:9, thinking this text says the resurrection was upon Sunday. But if you read the whole sentence, it does not say that at all. The expression "was risen" is in the perfect tense. What was Jesus' condition early the first day of the week? Does it say He "was rising" or that He "did rise" from the grave? No, early the first day of the week, at the time He appeared to Mary Magdalene, He was risen. Of course He was! He had risen the late afternoon before, so naturally He was risen Sunday morning. The text does not in any way refute the other texts we have given.

Another passage that might confuse is Luke 24:21: ". . . And beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done." "These things" included all the events pertaining to the resurrection—the seizing of Jesus, delivering Him to be tried, the actual crucifixion, and, finally, the setting of the seal and the watch over the tomb the following day, or Thursday. Study verses 18-20, telling of "these things" and also Matthew 27:62-66. "These things" were not completed until the watch was set, Thursday. And the text says Sunday was the third day since these things were done. Sunday truly was the third day since Thursday. But it was not the third day since Friday, so this text could not prove a Friday crucifixion.

There is yet one final clinching proof of this truth.

A vital text proving that there were two Sabbaths in that week has been obscured by almost every translation into English. Only Ferrar Fenton's version has this point correct.

Turn to Matthew 28:1. In the common versions it says, "In the end of the Sabbath," or more correctly, "after the Sabbath." Notice that both of these renderings use the singular—Sabbath. But in the original Greek the word is in the plural. Fenton renders it correctly by saying, "After the SABBATHS," although the remaining part of the verse he has not translated quite correctly. In a footnote to this text, he says, "The Greek original is in the plural, 'Sabbaths.'"

According to Mark 16:1, Mary Magdalene and her companions did not buy their spices to anoint the body of Jesus until after the Sabbath was past. They could not prepare them until after this—yet after preparing the spices they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment (Luke 23:56)!

Study these two texts carefully.

There is only one possible explanation: After the annual high-day Sabbath, the feast day of the days of Unleavened Bread—which was Thursday—these women purchased and prepared their spices on Friday, and then they rested on the weekly Sabbath, Saturday, according to the commandment (Exodus 20:8-11).

A comparison of these two texts proves there were TWO Sabbaths that week, with a day in between. Otherwise, these texts contradict themselves.

For proof of the pagan origin of such long-cherished days as Easter and Christmas, request our free booklets on those two subjects. The shocking truth is that nowhere can you find sanctions for those two holidays in the Bible. It is time we discovered the source of our religious beliefs and found out whether we ought to observe them.

© 1972 Worldwide Church of God

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The TRUTH About SUNDAY OBSERVANCE

RETURN TO BOOKLETS AND ARTICLES INDEX

Good News
February 1961
Vol. X, Number 2

The TRUTH About SUNDAY OBSERVANCE

by Raymond F. McNair
Here are the AMAZING facts about how the world's churches attempt to justify "Sunday observance" -- how they have forsaken God's Sabbath! It is written by the Evangelist in charge of God's churches in Britain.

ONE of the most difficult things for one to do is to ADMIT IT when shown to be wrong! THE most difficult thing for one to do, is to CHANGE when proven wrong!

The Test Commandment

God has made the fourth command a TEST command. Obedience to it is the ONE great distinguishing sign separating true Christians from heretics.

Here, published in the Good News for the first time, are the candid admissions of Protestant and Catholic clergymen. These confessions bring to light the doubts and frank admissions of the clergy regarding their utter LACK OF BIBLE AUTHORITY FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY.

Most Christians profess that one must OBEY God. But they do not agree as to just what constitutes OBEDIENCE to God. Yet Jesus explained exactly what obedience means.

Jesus Christ SPECIFICALLY SAID that He didn't come to ABOLISH or destroy the law or the prophets -- He came to fulfill, that is, to do to the fullest, to "fill full." He told the rich young ruler: "If thou wilt enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS" (Matt. 19:16-19). The verses following show that He referred to the TEN COMMANDMENTS.

The New Testament plainly shows that we are still to keep the Ten Commandments. Where, then, do men get the authority to change the FOURTH COMMANDMENT by substituting Sunday in the place of the original Sabbath which Christ and the Apostles kept?

The answer to this question will astound you!

How MEN Thought to Change God's Sabbath

Here are the theologians confessions. You will be amazed!

What was the first law made to enforce Sunday?

"Chamber's Encyclopedia," 1882 ed., Vol. VIII, p. 401, art: "Sabbath," declares: "By none of the Fathers before the FOURTH CENTURY is it [the first day] identified with the Sabbath; nor is the duty of observing it grounded by them either on the FOURTH COMMANDMENT or on the precept or example of Christ or His apostles. UNQUESTIONABLY THE FIRST LAW, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that day [Sunday] is known to have been ordained, is THE EDICT OF CONSTANTINE, 321 A.D., of which the following is a translation: 'Let all judges, inhabitants of the cities, and artificers, REST ON THE VENERABLE DAY OF THE SUN. But in the country, husbandmen may freely and lawfully apply to the business of agriculture; since it often happens that the sowing of corn and the planting of vines cannot be so advantageously performed on any other day.'"

Notice what the world-famous "Britannica" admits:

"The earliest recognition of the OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY AS A LEGAL DUTY," admits the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," 11th ed., Vol. 26, p. 95, art. "Sunday," "IS A CONSTITUTION of Constantine in 321 A.D., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns and workshops were to be AT REST ON SUNDAY (venerabili die solis), with an exception in favour of those engaged in agricultural labour."

THERE is the first law made to enforce Sunday!

Here is what the "Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," Vol. IV, pp. 2259-60, art. "Sunday" says: "SUNDAY (dies solis, of the Roman calendar, 'day of the sun', because dedicated to the sun), THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, was ADOPTED by the early Christians as a day of worship ... IT WAS CALLED THE 'LORD'S DAY' ... NO REGULATIONS FOR ITS OBSERVANCE ARE LAID DOWN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, NOR INDEED, IS ITS OBSERVANCE EVEN ENJOINED. In the second century its observance was universal ... The LORD'S DAY (Sunday) was not a continuation of the Jewish (or God's) SABBATH, WHICH WAS ALSO AT FIRST OBSERVED, but A SUBSTITUTE for it."

So it was not UNTIL THE SECOND CENTURY after Christ that Sunday observance became general, and it was not until 321 A.D. that it was enforced by State decree!

Most Catholics and Protestants would like to ASSUME that the Sabbath law was changed either by COMMAND or by EXAMPLE in the New Testament. But this is not true! You will not find one single verse authorizing such a change from Saturday to Sunday.

HOW Sunday Observance Began

If, then, the New Testament Scriptures do not explicitly abolish or change the FOURTH COMMANDMENT (as given in Exodus 20:8-11), then just WHEN and WHERE did the Christian-professing world begin to observe Sunday? When was Sunday substituted for the anciently observed Sabbath of Almighty God?

Yes, just who changed (or at least, CLAIMED TO CHANGE) the FOURTH COMMANDMENT? Who thought to change the Sabbath from Saturday (the seventh day) to Sunday (the first day)?

The answer is shockingly clear to those who aren't afraid of the TRUTH. History, as we have seen, reveals that it was the Emperor Constantine the Great, who made the first law which actually began to FORCE THE WORLD TO KEEP SUNDAY, and to break the Sabbath of God. And remember, Constantine was an unbaptized pagan sun-worshipper until the time of his death. On his death-bed he supposedly "embraced the Catholic faith," and received the pagan rite of "pouring" -- often (but erroneously) called "baptism"!

But HOW DID CHRISTIAN-PROFESSING CHURCHES OF THIS WORLD COME TO ADOPT SUNDAY as their Sabbath instead of the Sabbath of God?

Here's how!

Satan, the Devil, the Great Deceiver, has DECEIVED THIS WHOLE WORLD (Rev. 12:9). This was quite easy for him to do for, "The HEART IS DECEITFUL above all things and desperately wicked" (Jer. 17:9). The Devil, then, has played upon the deceptive heart-strings of HUMAN NATURE in order to trick mankind into ACCEPTING A COUNTERFEIT DAY in the place of the Holy Sabbath of God.

Here, then, is HOW the CHRISTIAN-PROFESSING churches of this world came to observe Sunday. Admittedly, the Catholic Church existed before the Protestant churches. And it was the Catholic Church which bowed to Constantine's dictum to observe Sunday in the place of the Sabbath, and she later bequeathed this day to her protesting daughters. Just listen to the following compelling testimonies to THIS HISTORICALLY PROVEN FACT!

First, let us go to the Catholic Church to see what she has to say on this subject: In the August 26, 1900, issue of the "Catholic Press," of Sydney, Australia, we read: "SUNDAY IS A CATHOLIC INSTITUTION, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles ... From beginning to end of the Scriptures THERE IS NOT A SINGLE PASSAGE THAT WARRANTS THE TRANSFER OF WEEKLY PUBLIC WORSHIP FROM THE LAST DAY (SATURDAY) OF THE WEEK TO THE FIRST (SUNDAY)."

Here is an interesting comment from Cardinal Gibbon's book, "Faith of Our Fathers," 110th ed., p. 89: "You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and YOU WILL NOT FIND A SINGLE LINE AUTHORIZING THE SANCTIFICATION OF SUNDAY. THE SCRIPTURES ENFORCE THE RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE OF SATURDAY, a day which we never sanctify."

On September 23, 1893, Cardinal Gibbons also made this statement in the "Catholic Mirror:" "The CATHOLIC CHURCH for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, CHANGED THE DAY FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY ... THE CHRISTIAN Sabbath (Sunday) IS, therefore, to this day, THE ACKNOWLEDGED OFFSPRING OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH as the spouse of the Holy Ghost, without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant world."

The Protestant Churches Follow Mother Rome

On page 15, Vol. IV of "Clifton Tracts" (a Catholic work) we read, "We Catholics, then have precisely the same authority for keeping Sunday holy, instead of Saturday, as we have for every other article of our creed; namely, the authority of 'the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth'; whereas, YOU WHO ARE PROTESTANTS HAVE REALLY NO AUTHORITY FOR IT WHATEVER; FOR THERE IS NO AUTHORITY FOR IT IN THE BIBLE, AND YOU WILL NOT ALLOW THAT THERE CAN BE AUTHORITY FOR IT ANYWHERE ELSE. BOTH YOU AND WE DO, IN FACT, FOLLOW TRADITION IN THIS MATTER; but we follow it, believing it to be part of God's Word, and the church to be its divinely appointed guardian and interpreter; YOU (Protestants) FOLLOW IT, DENOUNCING IT (tradition) all the time as "fallible and treacherous guide, which often makes the commandment of God of none effect."

T. Enright, a Catholic Priest, while president of Redemptorist Fathers College made the following statement in 1893 in a lecture delivered at Des Moines, Iowa: ''THERE IS BUT ONE CHURCH ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH WHICH HAS THE POWER, OR CLAIMS POWER, TO MAKE LAWS BINDING ON THE CONSCIENCE, binding before God, binding under pain of hell fire. For instance, THE INSTITUTION OF SUNDAY.

What right has any other church to keep this day? You [Protestants] answer by virtue of the third [according to old editions of the Douay Bible] commandment, which says, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day!' But SUNDAY IS NOT THE SABBATH. Any school boy knows that Sunday is the first day of the week. I HAVE REPEATEDLY OFFERED ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS TO ANYONE WHO WILL PROVE BY THE BIBLE alone that SUNDAY IS THE DAY, WE ARE BOUND TO KEEP, and no one has called for the money. IT WAS THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH THAT CHANGED THE DAY OF REST FROM SATURDAY, the SEVENTH DAY, to SUNDAY, the first day of the week. WHICH CHURCH DOES THE WHOLE CIVILIZED WORLD OBEY? The Bible says: 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day,' but the Catholic Church says, 'No, keep the first day of the week,' and ALL THE WORLD BOWS DOWN IN REVERENT OBEDIENCE TO THE MANDATES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH."

And now I quote from the Catholic "Doctrinal Catechism," pages 101, 174, 351-355: "Question -- Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer -- 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. Question -- When Protestants do profane work upon Saturday, or the seventh day of the week, DO THEY FOLLOW THE SCRIPTURE AS THE ONLY RULE OF THEIR FAITH -- DO THEY FIND THIS PERMISSION CLEARLY LAID DOWN IN THE SACRED VOLUME? Answer -- On the contrary, THEY HAVE ONLY THE AUTHORITY OF TRADITION FOR THIS PRACTICE. IN PROFANING SATURDAY, THEY VIOLATE ONE OF GOD'S COMMANDMENTS, which HE HAS NEVER CLEARLY ABROGATED, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.'"

More PROOF of the Protestant Dilemma

Waiter Drum, S. J., of Woodstock College, Maryland, challenges (on pp. 230-232 of "The Ecclesiastical Review," Feb., 1914, Vol. 50, No. 2): "The OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY thus comes to be AN ECCLESIASTICAL LAW entirely distinct from the divine law of the Sabbath observance. The prescriptions of Gen. 2:2, 3 in regard to the Sabbath have nothing whatever to do with the law of the church about SUNDAY, the Lord's day. Catholics should observe the law of the church, not by the Old Testament observances of the Sabbath, nor by the dictates of Protestants or of Jews, but by the prescription of the church herself. THE AUTHOR OF THE SUNDAY LAW is the only one who has a right to interpret that law; and THAT AUTHOR IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH." And on page 236 he states, "THEY (the Protestants) DEEM IT THEIR DUTY TO KEEP THE SUNDAY HOLY. Why? -- BECAUSE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TELLS THEM TO DO SO. THEY HAVE NO OTHER REASON."

Let me give you one more statement from the Catholics before turning to Protestant sources. I now quote from pages 3 and 4 of "The Library of Christian Doctrine," by Burns and Gates of London, art. 'Why Don't You Keep the Sabbath Day?':

"You [Protestants] will tell me that Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that the Christian Sabbath has been changed to Sunday. CHANGED! BUT BY WHOM? WHO HAS THE AUTHORITY TO CHANGE AN EXPRESS COMMANDMENT OF ALMIGHTY GOD? When God has spoken and said, 'Thou shalt keep holy the seventh day, who shall dare to say, 'Nay, thou mayest work and do all manner of worldly business on the seventh day; but thou shalt keep holy the first day in its stead!' This is a most important question, which I know not how you can answer. You are a PROTESTANT, and YOU PROFESS TO GO BY THE BIBLE AND THE BIBLE ONLY; AND YET IN SO IMPORTANT A MATTER as the observance of one day in seven as a holy day, YOU GO AGAINST THE PLAIN LETTER OF THE BIBLE, AND PUT ANOTHER DAY IN THE PLACE OF THAT DAY WHICH THE BIBLE HAS COMMANDED. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the Ten Commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding: WHO GAVE YOU AUTHORITY TO TAMPER WITH THE FOURTH? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible and the Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered."

The above testimony amply shows how the Catholics feel on this subject of who changed the Sabbath. They believe that the Catholic Church has power to make laws and to change the Word of God. But the Protestants are supposed to believe in no authority but the Bible.

Shameful Protestant Admissions

Next, let us see what the Protestants have to say, or admit, on this important subject.

"Some BAPTISTS are fond of demanding a 'Thus saith the Lord' for everything and profess to accept nothing for which explicit authority cannot be produced from the word of God. Probably not a reader [meaning a Baptist] of this paragraph would be willing to follow this principle to its legitimate conclusion. It would involve the immediate return to Sabbath worship, the abolition of Sunday schools." Quoted from the Baptist 'Examiner,' January 4, 1894.

Quite a candid admission!

The following confession, by Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of "The BAPTIST MANUAL," was made before a New York Ministers' Conference, Nov. 13th, 1893. "TO ME IT SEEMS UNACCOUNTABLE THAT JESUS, during three years intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question, discussing it in some of its various aspects, freeing it from its false glosses, NEVER ALLUDED TO ANY TRANSFERENCE OF THE DAY; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated early Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian fathers and other sources. BUT WHAT A PITY THAT IT [Sunday] COMES BRANDED WITH THE MARK OF PAGANISM AND CHRISTENED WITH THE NAME OF THE SUN GOD, WHEN ADOPTED AND SANCTIONED BY THE PAPAL APOSTASY, AND BEQUEATHED AS A SACRED LEGACY TO PROTESTANTISM!"

In this same article, read before this Baptist Conference, he went on to say: "Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I ask, Where can the record of such a transaction (from seventh day to the first day) be found? NOT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, ABSOLUTELY NOT. THERE IS NO SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE OF THE CHANGE OF THE SABBATH INSTITUTION FROM THE SEVENTH TO THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK."

What an admission!

Now a quotation from the LUTHERAN CHURCH. "THE OBSERVANCE of the Lord's day (meaning Sunday) IS FOUNDED NOT ON ANY COMMAND OF GOD, but on the authority of the church," states the "Augsburg Confession," part 2, chapter 1, sec. 10. Also we discover the following statement in Article 28 of the "Augsburg Confession": "They [Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord's day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it appears; NEITHER IS THERE ANY EXAMPLE MORE BOASTED OF THAN THE CHANGING OF THE SABBATH DAY. GREAT, SAY THEY, IS THE POWER AND THE AUTHORITY OF THE [Catholic] CHURCH SINCE IT DISPENSED WITH ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS."

Next, let us hear from a PRESBYTERIAN source, "The Christian at Work," April 19, 1883, and January, 1884. "SOME HAVE TRIED TO BUILD THE OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY UPON APOSTOLIC COMMAND, WHERE AS THE APOSTLES GAVE NO COMMAND ON THE MATTER AT ALL ... The truth is, as soon as we appeal to the LITERAL WRITING OF THE BIBLE, THE SABBATARIANS [Sabbath keepers] HAVE THE BEST OF THE ARGUMENT."

Continuing: "We hear less than we used to about the apostolic origin of the present Sunday observance, and for the reason that while the Sabbath and Sabbath rest are woven into the warp and woof of Scripture, IT IS NOW SEEN, AS IT IS ADMITTED, THAT WE MUST GO TO LATER THAN APOSTOLIC TIMES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SUNDAY OBSERVANCE."

And what have the Methodists to offer? Notice!

From "A Theological Dictionary," by Mr. Charles Buck, a METHODIST Minister, art., "Sabbath," page 403: "Sabbath in the Hebrew language signifies rest, and is THE SEVENTH DAY of the week ... AND IT MUST BE CONFESSED THAT THERE IS NO LAW IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CONCERNING THE FIRST DAY."

Alexander Campbell (of the CHRISTIAN CHURCH) made the following statement in the Washington (Pennsylvania), "Reporter," on October 8, 1821. "I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE LORD'S DAY CAME IN THE ROOM OF THE JEWISH SABBATH, OR THAT THE SABBATH WAS CHANGED FROM THE SEVENTH TO THE FIRST DAY, for this plain reason, that where THERE IS NO TESTIMONY, THERE CAN BE NO FAITH. NOW THERE IS NO TESTIMONY IN ALL THE ORACLES OF HEAVEN THAT THE SABBATH WAS CHANGED, or that the Lord's day came in the room of it ... There is no divine testimony that the Lord's day came in the room of it; therefore, THERE CAN BE NO DIVINE FAITH THAT THE SABBATH WAS CHANGED OR THAT THE LORD'S DAY CAME IN THE ROOM OF IT."

Protestants Admit They Follow Tradition Instead of Bible

The CHURCH OF ENGLAND (in one of its catechisms) makes the following statements, "AND WHERE ARE WE TOLD IN SCRIPTURE THAT WE ARE TO KEEP THE FIRST DAY AT ALL? WE ARE COMMANDED TO KEEP THE SEVENTH; BUT WE ARE NOWHERE COMMANDED TO KEEP THE FIRST DAY ... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church, has enjoined it." That is from "Plain Sermons on the Catechism," by Mr. Isaac Williams, D.D., Vol. I, pp. 334-36. London: Rivingtons, 1882.

That is quite an admission!

But now what does "The Christian Sabbath," by N. W. Rice, D.D., (PRESBYTERIAN) p. 60, have to say about the CHANGE of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day? Dr. Rice says: "There is no record, no express command, authorizing this change."

Dr. Lyman Abbott in Christian Union," Jan. 19, 1882, has to confess: "THE CURRENT NOTION THAT CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES AUTHORITATIVELY SUBSTITUTED THE FIRST DAY FOR THE SEVENTH, IS ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT ANY AUTHORITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT."

This CONGREGATIONALIST writer, Dr. Abbott, is quite frank in his admission and so is this statement from another "Congregationalist Minister," Mr. Grin Fowler, A.M. "There is no command in the Bible requiring us to observe the first day of the week as the Christian sabbath." -- "Mode and Subjects of Baptism:" by Mr. Orin Fowler.

William Prynne in his "Dissertation of the Lord's Day," pages 33, 34, 44 (1633) says, "THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH WAS ... SOLEMNIZED BY CHRIST, THE APOSTLES, AND PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS, till THE LAODICEAN COUNCIL DID IN A MANNER QUITE ABOLISH IT ... The Council of Laodicea (about 364 A.D.) ... first settled the observance of the Lord's day, and prohibited ... the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath under an anathema."

"THE LORD'S DAY was merely an ecclesiastical institution. IT WAS NOT INTRODUCED BY VIRTUE OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT, because they for almost three hundred years together kept that day which was in that (the fourth) commandment."

The renowned preacher, Henry Ward Beecher, made the following statement: "There is no direct command on the subject [of observing Sunday]. The only obligation resting upon us to observe Sunday is that which comes up through our nature." From "Bible Studies," p. 242, by Henry Ward Beecher.

Here is also a final admission: "The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday." From "The History of Christian Religion and Church," Neander, page 186, translated by Henry John Rose, D.D.

There are many more confessions which could be added to this list, both Catholic and Protestant. But the above list will suffice to prove that Sunday-observance was not instituted in the New Testament, but was instituted by Constantine the Great in 321 A.D., and enforced by the Catholic Church at the Council of Laodicea about 364 A.D.] -- and the Catholic Church bequeathed this pagan first day of the week, wrapped up in a Sunday wrapper, to the Protestant churches -- her daughters!

Sometimes an atheist or agnostic dares to put in plain words the real reason why he cannot accept the teachings of the churches. Did you know why Ingersoll was an agnostic? Here is one reason -- found in his book, "Some Mistakes of Moses", 1892, New York: C. P. Farrell, tenth ed., Chapter XIV, page 106. He says: "Since the establishment of the Christian religion, THE DAY (the Sabbath) HAS BEEN CHANGED, and CHRISTIANS DO NOT REGARD THE DAY AS HOLY UPON WHICH GOD ACTUALLY RESTED, and which He sanctified. THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH, or the LORD'S DAY was legally established by the murderer Constantine, because upon that day Christ was SUPPOSED to have risen from the dead. IT IS NOT EASY TO SEE WHERE CHRISTIANS GOT THE RIGHT TO DISREGARD THE DIRECT COMMAND OF GOD, TO LABOUR ON THE DAY HE SANCTIFIES, and keep as sacred, a day upon which He commanded men to labour. THE SABBATH OF GOD IS SATURDAY, AND IF ANY DAY IS TO BE KEPT HOLY, that is the one, AND NOT THE SUNDAY OF THE CHRISTIAN."

Do you now see WHY there are so many infidels? The veritable Babylon of hundreds of competitive religious bodies and conflicting teachings, has led many into rank atheism. If people would only accept and obey the plain teachings of the Bible, including Sabbath keeping, INFIDELITY WOULD VANISH FROM THE EARTH!

How grateful are we for the knowledge of this TRUTH?

PLEASE NOTE: THE BELOW CONFESSIONS ARE AN ADDENDUM AND ARE NOT PART OR PARCEL OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ABOVE.

Roman Catholic and Protestant Confessions

About Sunday

The vast majority of Christian churches today teach the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, as a time for rest and worship. Yet it is generally known and freely admitted that the early Christians observed the seventh day as the Sabbath. How did this change come about?

History reveals that it was decades after the death of the apostles that a politico-religious system repudiated the Sabbath of Scripture and substituted the observance of the first day of the week. The following quotations, all from Roman Catholic sources, freely acknowledge that there is no Biblical authority for the observance of Sunday, that it was the Roman Church that changed the Sabbath to the first day of the week.

In the second portion of this booklet are quotations from Protestants. Undoubtedly all of these noted clergymen, scholars, and writers kept Sunday, but they all frankly admit that there is no Biblical authority for a first-day sabbath.

ROMAN CATHOLIC CONFESSIONS

James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of our Fathers, 88th ed., pp. 89.

'But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."

Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed., p. 174.

"Question: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

"Answer: 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."

John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies (1 936), vol. 1, P. 51.

"Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days."

Daniel Ferres, ed., Manual of Christian Doctrine (1916), p. 67.

"Question: How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?

"Answer. 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.'

James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore (1877-1921), in a signed letter.

"Is Saturday the seventh day according to the Bible and the Ten Commandments? I answer yes. Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the seventh day - Saturday- for Sunday, the first day? I answer yes. Did Christ change the day'? I answer no!

"Faithfully yours, J. Card. Gibbons"

The Catholic Mirror, official publication of James Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.

"The Catholic Church, . . . by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday."

Catholic Virginian Oct. 3, 1947, p. 9, art. "To Tell You the Truth."

"For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible."

Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957), p. 50.

"Question: Which is the Sabbath day?

"Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

"Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

"Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."

Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About (1927), p. 136.

"Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday .... Now the Church ... instituted, by God's authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday."

Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society (1975), Chicago, Illinois.

"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:

"1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.

"2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.

"It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible."

T. Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, Feb. 18, 1884.

"I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Catholic Church says: 'No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.' And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church."

PROTESTANT CONFESSIONS

Protestant theologians and preachers from a wide spectrum of denominations have been quite candid in admitting that there is no Biblical authority for observing Sunday as a sabbath.

Anglican/Episcopal

Isaac Williams, Plain Sermons on the Catechism, vol. 1, pp. 334, 336.

"And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day .... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it."

Canon Eyton, The Ten Commandments, pp. 52, 63, 65.

"There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday .... into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters .... The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday."

Bishop Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday.

We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy Catholic Church."

Baptist

Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers' conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner, Nov. 16, 1893.

"There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week .... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament absolutely not.

"To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question . . . never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated.

"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history . . . . But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!"

William Owen Carver, The Lord's Day in Our Day, p. 49.

"There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath to the Christian first-day observance."

Congregationalist

Dr. R. W. Dale, The Ten Commandments (New York: Eaton & Mains), p. 127-129.

" . . . it is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath - - . . 'Me Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday .... There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday."

Timothy Dwight, Theology: Explained and Defended (1823), Ser. 107, vol. 3, p. 258.

" . . . the Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath."

Disciples of Christ

Alexander Campbell, The Christian Baptist, Feb. 2, 1824, vol. 1. no. 7, p. 164.

"'But,' say some, 'it was changed from the seventh to the first day.' Where? when? and by whom? No man can tell. No; it never was changed, nor could it be, unless creation was to be gone through again: for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance, or respect to the reason, can be changed! It is all old wives' fables to talk of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. If it be changed, it was that august personage changed it who changes times and laws ex officio - I think his name is Doctor Antichrist.'

First Day Observance, pp. 17, 19.

"The first day of the week is commonly called the Sabbath. This is a mistake. The Sabbath of the Bible was the day just preceding the first day of the week. The first day of the week is never called the Sabbath anywhere in the entire Scriptures. It is also an error to talk about the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. There is not in any place in the Bible any intimation of such a change."

Lutheran

The Sunday Problem, a study book of the United Lutheran Church (1923), p. 36.

"We have seen how gradually the impression of the Jewish sabbath faded from the mind of the Christian Church, and how completely the newer thought underlying the observance of the first day took possession of the church. We have seen that the Christians of the first three centuries never confused one with the other, but for a time celebrated both."

Augsburg Confession of Faith art. 28; written by Melanchthon, approved by Martin Luther, 1530; as published in The Book of Concord of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Henry Jacobs, ed. (1 91 1), p. 63.

"They [Roman Catholics] refer to the Sabbath Day, as having been changed into the Lord's Day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it seems. Neither is there any example whereof they make more than concerning the changing of the Sabbath Day. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments!"

Dr. Augustus Neander, The History of the Christian Religion and Church Henry John Rose, tr. (1843), p. 186.

"The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a Divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic Church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday."

John Theodore Mueller, Sabbath or Sunday, pp. 15, 16.

"But they err in teaching that Sunday has taken the place of the Old Testament Sabbath and therefore must be kept as the seventh day had to be kept by the children of Israel .... These churches err in their teaching, for Scripture has in no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath. There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect."

Methodist

Harris Franklin Rall, Christian Advocate, July 2, 1942, p. 26.

"Take the matter of Sunday. There are indications in the New Testament as to how the church came to keep the first day of the week as its day of worship, but there is no passage telling Christians to keep that day, or to transfer the Jewish Sabbath to that day."

John Wesley, The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., John Emory, ed. (New York: Eaton & Mains), Sermon 25, vol. 1, p. 221.

"But, the moral law contained in the ten commandments, and enforced by the prophets, he [Christ] did not take away. It was not the design of his coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken .... Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other."

Dwight L. Moody

D. L. Moody, Weighed and Wanting (Fleming H. Revell Co.: New York), pp. 47, 48.

The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. This fourth commandment begins with the word 'remember,' showing that the Sabbath already existed when God Wrote the law on the tables of stone at Sinai. How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding?"

Presbyterian

T. C. Blake, D.D., Theology Condensed, pp.474, 475.

"The Sabbath is a part of the decalogue - the Ten Commandments. This
alone forever settles the question as to the perpetuity of the institution . . . . Until, therefore, it can be shown that the whole moral law has been repealed, the Sabbath will stand . . . . The teaching of Christ confirms the perpetuity of the Sabbath."

The TRUTH About SUNDAY OBSERVANCE