SABBATH, SUNDAY,  
and FRIDAY  
IN THE  
LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
BY  
0. A. JOHNSON, B. Th.  
AUTHOR OF THE "BIBLE TEXT-BOOK"  
AND "BIBLE DOCTRINES."  
INSTRUCTOR  
IN  
BIBLE AND CHURCH HISTORY  
WALLA WALLA COLLEGE  
COLLEGE PLACE, WASH.  
1922


PREFACE  
From the fact that church histories, as well as histories  
of Christian dogmas, which are generally used as text books  
in our colleges, do not give all the information that is de- 
sired on the subject of the Sabbath of the Lord or how the  
first day of the week came to take the place of the Sabbath  
for rest and worship, therefore the following was prepared 
for the use of the class in church history in Walla Walla  
College during the year 1921-22. But since the class de- 
sired to obtain these historic facts in a printed form for  
future use, the instructor gladly complied with the request,  
and hence these facts now appear in the form of this little  
pamphlet.  
Since the Bible is an inspired history of Christian  
doctrines, therefore the first few pages will be devoted to  
the teaching of the Bible on the subject of the Creation  
Sabbath and the First Day of the Week. The rest of this  
brief treatise will be devoted to the teaching of history on  
this topic. Those who wish to study this doctrine more fully  
will find this subject fully discussed in the books named in  
the introduction.  Instructor.  

PART ONE  
SABBATH IN THE BIBLE  
Sabbath in the Old Testament.  
Divine Origin of the Sabbath.  
The Sabbath Universal and Perpetual.  
The Sabbath Moral and Unchangeable.  
Sabbath Memorial. 
Sabbath a Sign.  
Three Annual Feasts.  
Seven Annual Sabbaths.  
Annual Feasts—Annual Feasts Abolished.  
II. Sabbath in the New Testament  
Christ's Teachings about the Sabbath.  
To Teach What Jesus Taught.  
Sabbath in Acts.  
Sabbath in the First Christian Council.  
Israel a Kingdom of Priests.  
Many Jewish Proselytes.  
Jewish Proselytes Kept the Sabbath.  
First Day of the Week in the New Testament.  
The Lord's Day of Rev.  1 :10.  
Sabbath the Lord's Day.  
An Important Fact. 
Alexander Campbell on the Law and the Sabbath  
Page 5


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY  IN THE   
LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
IMO* it&  

PART TWO  
SABBATH AND SUNDAY IN HISTORY  
III. Sabbath Before Christ.  
Sabbath on Creation Tablet. 
Sabbath in Babylon During the Patriarchal Age.  
Universal Knowledge of the Sabbath.  
Ancient Heathen Testimony on the Sabbath.  
Sabbath Observed in Ancient China.  
Sabbath in Heathen Africa.  
IV. Sabbath and Sunday After Christ.  
Names of the Days of the Week.  
Sunday.  
No Divine Authority for Sunday.  
Christian Fathers not Inspired.  
Testimony of the Fathers Pro and Con.  
Seventh Day the Lord's Salsitetth.  
Newly Discovered Sayings of our Lord.  
Pliny's Testimony.  
Barnabas' Epistle.  
Quotius-and his Epistles.  
Justin Martyr.  
Testimony of Tertullian.  
First day of the Week called the "Lord's Day."  
Religious Meetings on both Days.  
Lord's Supper Celebrated on the Sabbath.  
"We Have Transferred to the Lord's Day."  
Constantine's Sunday-Law. 
Christians Worked on Sunday.  
Sabbath and Sunday Festival.  
Page 6  

Sunday Substituted for the Sabbath by the  
Papacy.  
Approved by a General Council.  
Sunday Law Approved by the Pope.  
Popes condemning Sabbath-keepers as Anti- 
christ.  
Persecuted for not Working on the Sabbath. 
Petitions for Sunday-Laws Granted.  
Sabbath Observance During the Dark Ages.  
"The Augsburg Confession. -  
A Summary.  
Dr. Hiscox's Confession.  
V. Friday the Mohammedan Sabbath.  
Mohammed God's Apostle.  
Koran or Alkoran.  
Friday the Mohammedan Sabbath.  
VI. Summary and Comparison.  
Three Weekly Sabbaths Which are Divine.  
Of What is the Religious Observance of a Day  
a Sign?  
Which Shall We Choose?  
Pate 7


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
INTRODUCTION  
In our day we find three days in the week observed  
for rest and worship. The Jews and a few Christian denom- 
inations—the Seventh-Day Baptists, the Seventh-Day Ad- 
ventists, and a few others—observe the seventh day or Sat- 
urday for rest and worship ; the Greek Catholic and the  
Roman Catholic churches and most of the Protestant de- 
nominations devote the first day of the week or Sunday for  
rest and worship. The Mohammedans, which number about  
225,000,000, observe Friday for their religious worship.  
The author will give, in this brief treatise, what he finds  
in the Bible and history bearing on the subject of these  
three days of the week devoted to religious worship by so  
many people in our day.  
While the sacred Scriptures are considered by Pro- 
testants as a sufficient guide with reference to all of man's  
religious duties, the Catholics, on the other hand, regard  
the tradition of their own church as of equal authority  
with the Bible. The Mohammedans look upon Mohammed  
as a true prophet of God and his writing, the "Koran," as  
their infalible guide regarding all religious duties.  
Literature.  "The Ante-Nicene Fathers" include the  
writings of the so-called Christian Fathers who lived and  
wrote before the Council of Nice, 325 A. D. These writings  
are published in ten volumes. To these writings Christians  
generally appeal to learn what the Christians believed and  
taught during the second, third, and fourth centuries after  
Christ. "The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series"  
Page 8  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
contain the writings of Augustin and Chrisostom in fourteen  
volumes. "The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second  
Series," contain the church histories of Eusebius, Socrates,  
Sozomenus, and Theodoret, also the writings of Jerome,  
letters of Gregory the Great, 590-604 A. D., and other  
noted writers during that period; these are found in fourteen  
volumes.  
The above three sets of books of the Fathers are pub- 
lished by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.  
Sabbath Histories.  "The Sabbath Manuel" by Justin  
Edwards, American Tract Society, New York; "The Sab- 
bath" by James Gilfillian, American Tract Society, New  
York; "Cox's Literature on the Sabbath Question," in two  
volumes, Maclachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh; Hessey's  
Bamfton Lectures on "Sunday," John Murray, London.  
"History of the Sabbath, -  by Andrews and Conradi, Review  
and Herald, Washington, D. C.; "A Critical History of the  
Sabbath and the Sunday in the Christian Church," A.  H.  
Lewis, The American Sabbath Tract Society, Plainfield, N.  
J.; "Critical History of Sunday Legislation," A. H. Lewis,  
D. Appleton and Co., New York. "The Sabbath for Man,"  
Wilbur F. Crafts, Funk and Wagnalls, New York; "Spiritual  
Sabbathism," A. H. Lewis, American Sabbath Tract Society,  
Plainfield, N. J.  
Other authors will also be quoted and due reference  
given so that the reader can verify quotations used.  
Page 9


LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN  THE  
PART ONE  
Sabbath in the Bible  
I. SABBATH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT  
Divine Origin of the Sabbath.  All who believe the  
Bible to be the inspired word of God acknowledge the  
seventh-day sabbath to be of divine origin. It will not  
therefore be necessary to devote much space to a discus- 
sion of the Sabbath from a Bible standpoint.  
The Sabbath was instituted by the Creator, Christ, for  
God created all things by Christ. "All things were made  
by  him," Heb. 1:1, 2; John. 1:1-3. The Sabbath was made  
at Creation in the following manner: He first rested on the  
first seventh day of time, then he blessed and sanctified it.  
Gen. 2:1 -3. But the sole fact of his resting on this seventh  
day, made that day "the Sabbath-day;" for it was already  
"the Sabbath day" when He blessed and hallowed it. Ex. 20:  
11. Since the first seventh day of time became the Lord's  
Sabbath, or rest day, because he rested on that day, it fol- 
lows that each succeeding seventh day of the weekly cycle  
will be the Lord's rest day as long as the sun shines and the  
earth revolves upon its axis. This fact can no more be  
changed than we can change our birthday.  
The Sabbath Universal and Perpetual.  The Sab- 
bath law reveals the fact that it is an institution of universal  
and perpetual obligation; for first, the Creator, who alone  
has the sole right to make laws governing created intelli-  
Page 10  
Page II  

gences, made the Sabbath law; second, "the earth" is spe- 
cified as the territory where the Sabbath is to be sacredly  
observed; third, the subjects of this law are human beings 
old enough to work, and know enough to count from one to  
seven and to keep the Sabbath day holy. Ex. 20:8-11.  
"The Sabbath was made for man. -  Mark 2:27.  
Sabbath Moral and Unchangeable.  The Creator of  
the universe must be infinite in all his attributes; for if one of  
his attributes were finite—or limited then he would not be  
an infinite God. All his attributes must therefore be immu- 
table—not subject to change. With him "is no variableness  
neither shadow of turning." Jas. 1:17. It furthermore fol- 
lows that the terms of language that correctly define these  
attributes must of necessity be as unchangeable as God him- 
self.  
Any and every law which is based upon or is a revela- 
tion of an attribute of God, and which is also an expression  
of his will, must be a moral and unchangeable law. Now  
it is a fact that the Sabbath law is a revelation of, and is  
based upon the attribute of creative power; it also contains  
an expression of his will concerning the Sabbath, hence the  
Sabbath command must be a moral and an unchangeable  
law.  
Sabbath Memorial.  Statues are often set up in  
memory of great men; monuments are often erected to com-
memorate great national events; at times national holidays  
are appointed in memory of some important national trans- 
action, such as "Independence Day," the "Fourth of July,"  
which is celebrated in the United States in memory of the  
signing of the American Independence on July 4, 1776.  
Now what event could be of greater importance to the  
human family than the creation of our world by the al- 
mighty power of God, and what could be of greater inter-


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE   LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
est to man than to keep in memory the birth of our world  
and everything in it? God "made his wonderful works  
to be remembered ;" (Ps.  1 11:4),  and such a memorial he  
has given us in his constitutional law, the decalogue, and  
that memorial is the creation Sabbath, for he says, "remem- 
ber the Sabbath day (the rest day) to keep it holy . . . .  
for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and  
all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore  
the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Ex.  
20:8-11. Since the seventh day Sabbath law was instituted  
at  creation, as a memorial of God's creative works, it fol- 
lows that it will exist as long as creation exists. This is  
evident from the fact that the saved will continue to hal- 
low the Sabbath on the new earth throughout the ceaseless  
ages of eternity. Isa. 66:22, 23.  
Had man continued to observe this reminder of crea- 
tion by contemplating God's manifold and wonderful works,  
he  would never have apostatized into idolatry. The true  
spiritual and worshipful observance of the creation Sabbath  
is  the greatest bulwark against infidelity and idolatry.  
5.  Sabbath a Sign.  The religious observance of a  
day is a sign of obedience or loyalty to the authority requir- 
ing such observance. When Israel kept the day, which  
Aaron dedicated as a "feast to the Lord," for the worship  
of the golden calf, which he had made, it was a sign of their  
obedience to Aaron and a sign of apostasy. Ex. 32:2-6.  
When Israel kept the fifteenth day of the eight month, which  
king Jeroboam had appointed for the worship of the golden  
calves, it was a mark of loyalty to the king as well as a mark  
of apostasy. I Kings 12:26-33. When Israel burned in- 
cense to "Baalim" on days dedicated for his worship it was  
a  sign of Baal worship. Hos. 2:13. The Galatian churches  
were composed largely of proselytes converted from idol-  
Page 12  

atry. Acts  13:1 4, 42-43; 14:1,  8- 15.  Afterwards Paul  
upbraided them for returning to the bondage of idol-worship  
by observing days, months, times and years dedicated to  
idolatry. Gal. 4. 8-10. Thus the observance of these idol- 
atrous feasts was a mark of apostasy.  
Nov the Lord has given his people a sign of loyalty to  
him, for he says: "verily my sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a  
sign between me and you throughout your generations, that  
ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you."  
Ex. 31:13. But the Sabbath is a sign only to those whom the 
Lord sanctifies. Now since salvation from sin and sanctifi- 
cation is through grace by faith in the name of Christ (Eph.  
2 :5, 8; I Cor. 6:1  1 ) , it follows that all who are sanctified  
are under grace, and only such can by the grace of God  
keep the Sabbath holy. Ex. 20:8. With delight will such  
worship the Lord from Sabbath•to Sabbath. Isa. 58:12-14;  
66:22, 23. This sign will remain "forever" or as long as  
God and his sanctified people exist. Ex. 31:17. Thus it  
is evident that the observance of the Creator's Sabbath is a  
sign of loyalty to God; and the religious observance of man- 
made rest days, as a substitute for the Lord's sacred day, is  
a sign of apostasy from God, and hence vain worship. Matt.  
15:9. 
6.  Three Annual Feasts.  The Lord appointed three  
annual feasts to be observed by Israel. Ex. 23:14-17;  
Deut. 16:16. The first was the feast of the passover which  
lasted seven days from the fourteenth to the twenty-first in  
the first month, Abib or Nisan. This feast was to be a  
memorial of Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage.  
Ex.  12:6-15;  13:4-  1  O. The second was the feast of "first  
fruits" or "the feast of weeks." Ex. 23:16; Deut. 16:16.  
This feast fell seven weeks or fifty days after the wave sheaf  
had been waved on the morrow after the first passover  
Page 13


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
sabbath or after the sixteenth of Abib. Lev. 23:1  1 -16.  In  
the New Testament it is called Pentacost. Acts 2:1. The  
third festival was called the feast of ingathering or the "feast  
of tabernacles" ; it was celebiated from the fifteenth to the  
twenty-first of the seventh Jewish month Tisri. Ex. 23:1 6 ;  
Deut. 16 :16 ; Lev. 23:39.  
The Hebrew word by which these annual feasts are  
designated is "Hag", a word which is never applied to the  
seventh day Sabbath. The corresponding Greek word is  
"heorte." 
Seven Annual Sabbaths.  The seven annual rest  
days were the following: the  first was on Abib 15th, and the  
second  was on the 21st, being the first and last days of the  
passover feast. Lev. 23:58, the  third  annual rest day was  
the day of pentecost fifty days after the first Passover  
sabbath and occurred on the sixth day of the Jewish month  
Sivan. Lev. 23:15,  1  6. The first day of the seventh  
month Tisri was the  fourth  annual sabbath. Lev. 23:24, 25.  
The day of atonement which fell on the tenth day of this  
month was the  fifth  annual sabbath of Israel. Verses 27- 
32. The first and last days of the feast of tabernacles con- 
stitute the  sixth  and  seventh  annual feasts days in Israel.  
Verse 39. All these annual feasts and annual rest days  
were "besides the Sabbaths of the Lord." Verses 37, 38.  
All these feasts and rest days were appointed for var- 
ious kinds of sacrifices and burnt offerings. Verse 37. All  
divine instructions concerning them are found only in the  
ritual law given to Moses, and are no part of God's holy law,  
the decalogue.  
Annual Feasts and Annual Sabbaths Abolished.  
Since these feasts and rest days were appointed for sacrifices  
and offerings it follows that they ceased at the crucifixion of  
Christ, when the vail in the temple was rent, indicating that  
Page 14  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
EXPLANATION TO CHART NO. 2  
The Jewish year consisted of twelve months, with alter- 
nating thirty and twenty-nine days, making 354 days, in- 
stead of 365. In order that the months might correspond  
with the various seasons of the year, an intercalary month  
was added every third year, or oftener, to the last month,  
and called Veadar. The civil year began with Tisri, and  
the number of the month of the civil year is found at the  
right of the name of the month, inclosed with parentheses.  
The ecclesiastical year began with Abib or Nisan. Ex.  
12:2; 34:18; Esther 3:7. The numerical figures to the left  
of the names of the months indicate the number of the  
month in the ecclesiastical year. This chart is based upon  
the accepted idea that Christ ate the passover lamb on the  
evening following the first of the month. Luke 22:1, 7,  15;  
Ex.  1  2 :6-8. Now if the 14th day fell on Thursday, then  
the first day of the same month would fall on Friday. Then  
it becomes an easy matter to locate every day of the week,  
every weekly Sabbath, every feast day, and every annual  
sabbath of that year. See par. 6-8.  
Page 15


Jew is h Ca len da r.    Char t   No.    2  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
then the typical service of the earthly sanctuary ceased; for 
then was blotted out the "handwriting of ordinances."  
The annual feasts (Greek "heorte") and annual sabbaths  
were then annulled; for they were only shadows—a type  
of Christ. Matt. 27:51, 52; Col. 2:14-17; Heb.  10:1,  2.  
Note—The term Israel refers to the decendents of Jacob's  
twelve sons and is always so used in the Old Testament. The  
term Jews is first used in II Kings 16:6, about 741 B. C. or about  
750 after the exodus, when the decendents of the tribe of Judah  
were called Jews. The creation Sabbath is never in the Bible  
called the Sabbath of the Jews, or the Sabbath of Israel, but "the  
Sabbath of the Lord thy God" or  "my  Sabbaths." Ex. 20:10; 31:  
13. The annual sabbaths are sometimes called "your sabbaths,"  
"her sabbaths," etc. Lev. 23:27-32; 26:34, 35.  
II. SABBATH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT  
9.  Christ's Teachings About the Sabbath.  The Sab- 
bath was instituted by the Creator—Jesus Christ (see par.  1)  
therefore he could truly say that "the Son of man is Lord  
also of the Sabbath: -  and hence he could say with authority,  
"the Sabbath was made for man. -  Mark 2:27, 28.  
When the Jews found fault with the disciples of Christ  
for plucking ears of grain to eat on the Sabbath; and when  
they also upbraided Jesus for healing on that day, he replied  
by calling attention to the fact, that the priests in the temple  
profaned the Sabbath by offering sacrifices on that day, yet  
were held blameless (Num. 28:9, 10) ; and how they  
thought it right to lift a sheep out which had fallen into a  
pit on the Sabbath; thereupon he then stated the principle  
that "it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." Matt.  
12:1-12. If only deeds of necessity and mercy were "law- 
ful" on the Sabbath, it follows that all other work was  
unlawful on that day. Jesus predicted the fall of Jerusalem  
Page 17


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE .    
in the following words: "When ye shall see Jerusalem com- 
passed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof  
is nigh." Luke 21:19. Jerusalem was destroyed 70 A.D,  
by the Romans under Titus. He counseled his disciples,  
who might be "in Judea, -  in "the field," or on "the house- 
top, -  to flee instantly to the mountains and not stop to  
take anything with them. Then follows this advice: "Pray  
ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sab- 
bath day. -  Matt. 24:15-20. They were to pray that God  
would so overrule events that they would not have to suffer  
in their flight from the winter's cold. And he added sig- 
nificantly, "Neither on the Sabbath day. -  Had Jesus abol- 
ished the Sabbath at his crucifixion, as some teach, then  
there would have been no Sabbath on which to flee. But  
the fact that they were not to flee on the Sabbath at the 
time of the conquest of Judea by the Romans, A.D. 70,  
proves most conclusively that the Sabbath was not abol- 
ished, but was to be sacredly observed by the believers in  
Christ.  
To Teach What Jesus Taught.  Christ's last  
commission to his disciples was to "teach all nations to ob- 
serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you. -  Matt.  
28:19, 20. It is evident from this that Christian ministers  
ought to "teach all nations," not the Jews only, that Jesus  
is "Lord of the Sabbath," that "the Sabbath was made  
for man," and that they should pray God for help to keep  
it in troubulous times. As far as the gospel records are  
concerned, Jesus never took the first day of the week upon  
his lips, much less said anything about its taking the place of  
the Sabbath.  
Sabbath in Acts.  In the book of Acts we have  
a history of the Christian church from the ascension  of  
Jesus until Paul's imprisonment in Rome A. D. 62-66.  
Page 18  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
From this inspired history, we learn that the churches  
raised up in Antioch Pisidia, in Philippi, in Thessalonica,  
and in Corinth held their religious services on the Sabbath.  
Acts 13 :14, 42-44 ; 16 :12, 13 ; 17:1-3; 18 :1-4, 11. There  
is no evidence that regular religious services were held on  
any other day. It is furthermore a fact that a large number  
in these churches were converted Gentiles.  
Sabbath in the First Christian Council.  Wherever  
Paul labored he preached "forgiveness of sins" in the name  
of Christ, and said, "All that believe are justified from all  
things, from which they could not be justified by the law of  
Moses. -  Acts 13:38, 39. Thereupon some arose and  
taught that none could be saved unless they were `:circum- 
cised -  and kept the "law of Moses." Acts 15:1-5.  In  
consequence of this, a council was called at Jerusalem 51  
A.D., composed of apostles and elders, to settle this matter.  
After a thorough consideration of the question, the council  
agreed to the following statement by James: "Wherefore  
my sentance is, that we trouble not them, which from among  
the Gentiles are turned to God; but that we write unto them,  
that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from forni- 
cation, and from things strangled, and from blood. For  
Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him,  
being read in the synagogue every Sabbath day. -  Acts 15:  
19-21. From this it is evident that this council considered  
the moral law forbidding idolatry and fornication as well  
as the law of hygiene, still binding, but it was not necessary  
to salvation to observe the law of Moses. Verses 23-29.  
This proves that the council recognized two laws, the moral  
and ceremonial laws.  
It is furthermore obvious that this council approved  of  
the  custom of the converted Gentiles' meeting in "the syn- 
agogue" on "every sabbath day" for to worship. Had  the  
Page 19


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
Sabbath been changed from the seventh to the first day of  
the week, this would have been the time to have made it  
known. In view of this fact it is apparent that this first  
Christian council, composed of apostles and elders, set their  
seal of approval on the Sabbath observance in the Christian  
dispensation.  
From the teachings of Christ in the gospels, and from  
the inspired history, Acts of the Apostles, we learn that the  
Sabbath of the Lord remains unchanged and should be  
sacredly observed by Christians.  
13.  Israel a Kingdom of Priests.  God designed that  
Israel should be a kingdom of priests to teach surrounding  
nations.the worship of the true God. Ex. 19:6; Ps. 96:2,  
10; I Chron. 16:23, 24; Isa. 49:6. All strangers--heathen  
—who chose to serve Jehovah were to observe the same  
laws, offer the same kind of sacrifices, keep the same com- 
mands and observe the same sabbaths as Israel. Num. 15:  
15, 16, 29 ; Isa. 56:1-7. The temple built by Soloman was  
dedicated for the worship of these proselytes as well as for  
Israel, hence it was called a "house of prayer for all people. -  
I Kings 8:4  1 -4 3 ;  Isa. 56:7. Jonah was sent to Nineveh who  
repented at his preaching. Matt. 12:41.  
But Israel failed to do this missionary work because  
they went into idolatry. God, therefore, scattered them  
through captivity among the surrounding nations. Deut. 28:  
49, 64; II Kings 18:11, 12; II Chron. 36:14-18. Neverthe- 
less the knowledge of Jehovah and his worship was dissemin- 
ated among the heathen peoples through those of Israel in  
captivity who remained loyal to God. This remnant of Is- 
rael was "in the midst of many people, as a dew from the  
Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for  
man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. -  Micah 5:7. In the  
days of Esther and Mordecai "many people of the land be-  
Page 20  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
came Jews." Esther 8:17. In the days of Malachi there  
were Gentiles from the rising of the sun to the going down  
thereof who offered more acceptable sacrifices to the Lord  
than Israel. Mal. 1:7-11.  
Many Jewish Proselytes.  In the days of Christ  
there "was no nation which had not among them part of the  
Jewish people," since it was "widely dispersed over all the  
world among its inhabitants." "Edersheim's Life of Christ,"  
Vol. 1, p. 5. Josephus quotes Strabo thus, "These Jews are  
already gotten into all cities; and it is hard to find a place  
in the habitable earth that hath not admitted this tribe of  
men, and it not possessed by them. -  "Josephus' Antiquities,"  
B. 14, ch. 7, para. 2. "The numbers won to the Jewish faith  
must have been very large. A careful modern writer states  
that 'at or before the beginning of the Christian era they  
might have bene reckoned by hundreds of thousands, if not  
millions,' "Newman's Manual of Church History." vol.  1,  
pp. 57, 58. 
Jewish Proselytes Kept the Sabbath.  Seneca says  
of the Jews, "The vanquished have given laws to the vic- 
tors." "Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism" by Uhl- 
horn, p. 87. Josephus testifies that "the multitude of man- 
kind itself have had a great inclination of a long time to fol- 
low our observances; for there is not any city of the Gre- 
cians, nor any of the barbarians nor any nation whither our 
custom of resting on the Sabbath has not come." Josephus  
against Apion II, Sec. 40.  
From the New Testament we learn that Greek prose- 
lytes worshipped in the temple at the passover feast. John  
12:21. On the day of Pentecost we find that many prose- 
lytes were come to worship at this feast. Acts. 2:  1 - 10.  
From the Acts, we learn that numbers of devout Greeks  
men and women met with the Jews to worship God in  the  
Page 2 I


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
synagogues on the Sabbath days. Acts 13:42-44; 14:1;  
1 7:1-3;  18:1-11. Uhlhorn says, "Roman ladies thronged  
the Synagogues of the Jews, and many a Roman observed  
the Jewish Sabbath in the hope of propitiating the great  
Jehovah." "In Damascus, all the women are said to have  
been of this class and in Rome, there were many even from  
the higher circles. . . . Even without becoming exactly prose- 
lytes, many attached themselves to the synagogue fasted,  
prayed, kept the Sabbath." "Conflict  of  Christianity with  
Heathenism," by Uhlhorn, pp. 63, 89.  
The above quotations prove that great numbers of the  
Gentiles of various nations renounced heathenism and serv- 
ed Jehovah and kept his Sabbath. These facts prove it is  
an error to teach that the laws given to Israel at Mount Sinai  
were for Israel alone. "Is he the God of the Jews only?  
Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also."    
Rom. 3:29.  
16.  First Day of the Week In the New Testament.  
This day is mentioned only eight times in the Testament but  
is never designated by any other term than "the first day of  
the week." The first six times when this day is mentioned  
refer to the day of Christ's resurrection as follows. Matt.  
28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 26:1; John 20:1, 19. But nothL  
ing is intimated that this resurrection day was to supercede  
the Sabbath of the Lord as a day of rest and worship.  
The seventh text is found in Acts 20:7 where we  find a  
record of Paul holding a parting meeting with the  church  
at Troas. This is the only record we have  in the New Testa- 
ment of a religious meeting being held on "the first  day of  
the week, -  and that was held during the night.  But therc  
is nothing in this text to indicate that this day was regularly  
observed for rest and worship.  
"Upon the first day of the week let every one of you  
Page 22  

lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there  
be no gatherings when I come." (1 Cor. 16:2) is the eighth  
and last reference to this day of the week. The ex- 
pression "lay by him in store" "upon the first day of the  
week" is considered by many to mean that public collec- 
tions were taken every Sunday for the poor, hence proof for  
regular Sunday meetings of the early Christians. The Greek  
for "by him" is "par heauto" and is thus defined by the  
following Greek-English lexicons: "at home," 1 Cor. 16:2,  
Bagster's "Analytical Greek Lexicon" p. 300; "by or with  
oneself in one's house, at home, I Cor. 16:21" Robinson's  
Greek and English Lexicon," p. 199; "at one's home or  
house," "Liddell's and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon." p.  
1096.  
Chrysostom, who lived 347-407 A. D. in his homily on  
1 Cor. 16, remarks thus on the phrase "lay by him store:  
Paul "said not 'Let him bring it into the church' lest they  
might feel ashamed because of the smallness of the sum; but  
'having by gradual additions swelled his contribution, let  
him then produce it, when I come; but for the present lay  
it up,' saith he, 'at home, and make thine house a church;  
thy little box a treasury.' " "Post Nicene Fathers, First  
Series," Vol. 12, p. 259.  
Now from the statements of these authorities it is  
evident that the laying by in store was to be done "at home"  
on "the first day of the week" and not in the collection box  
at the church, hence 1 Cor. 16:2, can not truly be regarded 
as proof for regular Sunday meeting as believed by many  
in our day.  
17.  "The Lord's Day"  of Rev. 1:10, which was writ- 
ten 94 A. D., is held by many to be the first day of the week,  
because Jesus rose on that day. But if the resurrection of  
Christ on Sunday made that day "the Lord's day", then  
Page 23


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
it  follows that each succeeding first day of the week since  
that resurrection morn must have been "the Lord's day".  
If so why did not Matthew, Mark and Luke who wrote their  
gospels between 6 and 23 years after his resurrection call  
this day "the Lord's day" instead of the "first day of the  
week?" Why did John who wrote his gospel 96 A. D. two  
years after he penned the Revelation twice call it the first  
day of the week" instead of "the Lord's day?" John 20:  
1, 19. For dates of the books of the New Testament see  
"Source Book" p. 86, published by Review and Herald,  
Wash., D. C. Since the New Testament was written by in- 
spired writers we must conclude that they did not know that  
the first day of the week was "the Lord's day," or they  
would have used that term instead of the one they em- 
played.  
Sabbath the Lord's Day.  From the Bible we  
learn that the "seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy  
God," Ex. 20:10; thy (the Lord's) holy Sabbath, -  Neh.  
9:14; "My (the Lord's) holy day, -  Isa. 58:13; and "the  
Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath, -  Mark 2:28. These  
and many other texts of scripture prove clearly that the  
Sabbath of the Lord must be "the Lord's day" of Rev. 1:10.  
The "Acts of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John,"  
is a book mentioned by Eusebius, Epiphanius, Photius, Aug- 
ustine and others. In it we find the following;  "On the sev- 
enth day it being the Lord's day,  he said to them; 'Now it is  
time for me also to partake of food.' "Ante-Nicene Fath- 
ers, -  vol. 8, pp. 357, 361. This proves that John who wrote  
Revelations, calls the seventh day the Lord's day, "and not  
the first day of the week." See paragraph 39.  
An Important Fact.  It may be a surprise to the  
reader yet it is an undeniable truth that none of the Christian  
authors who lived and wrote before the council of Nice 325  
Page 24  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
ever quoted Acts 2:1; 20:7 Cor. 16:2, and Rev.  1 : 1 0  
in favor or support of Sunday as a religious institution. The  
translators of these ancient writings sometimes use these 
texts in their notes for Sunday sacredness but the ancient  
Fathers never so use them. Now in order that any who may  
wish to verify the above statement, every reference found in  
these Fathers is herewith given: Acts 2:1; "Ante-Nicene  
Fathers, -  vol. 4, p. 108; Acts 20:7; Ibid vol. 8, p. 773;  
I Cor. 16:2; Ibid vol. 1, p. 16; vol. 8. p. 773; Rev,  1 :1  0 ;  
Ibid vol. 3, pp. 187, 188; vol. 7, p. 329; vol. 8, pp.  
381, 773.  
Now since none of these early Christian writers ever  
quoted any of the above verses of the New Testament as  
evidence for Sunday rest and worship we can but reasonably  
conclude that these first writers after the apostles saw noth- 
ing in these texts in support of such a view. This is an im- 
portant fact that should not be overlooked in the study of  
the Sabbath and Sunday in the first centuries after Christ.  
Alexander Campbell on the Law and the Sabbath.  
Before we go to history for evidence on Sabbath and Sun- 
day, it may be in place to consider what Alexander Camp- 
bell, the learned scholar and one of the founders of the  
Christian Church, says on the subject of the law of God, the  
decalogue, and the creation Sabbath.  
The law.  "But we choose," says Mr. Campbell, "to  
define it more legally, and evangelically, from the second  
table or what has, in Christendom, been called  'the moral  
law'—the  ten commandments. . .. The law of ten com- 
mandments is the summary of all our duties to God and to  
our fellow-man." "Popular Lectures and Addresses," by A.  
Campbell, pp. 202, 203, Christian Publishing Company,  
St. Louis, Mo.  
"Moral law is as unchangeable as the laws of nature.  
Page 25


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN  THE  LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
Moral means and ends are as inseparable as natural means  
and ends. -  "Christian System, -  by A. Campbell, p. 255,  
Christian Board of Publication, St. Louis, Mo.  
"It is clearly proved, that the pastors of the Church  
have struck out one of God's ten words ('the second com-  
mandment') ; which not only in the Old Testament, but in  
all revelation, are the most emphatically regarded as the  
synopsis of all religion and morality." A. Campbell's debate  
with Purcell, Catholic Bishop, p. 214, Cincinnati, Ohio.  
The Sabbath.  "The seventh day was observed from  
Abraham's time, nay, from Creation. The Jews identified  
their own history with the institution of the Sabbath day.  
They loved and venerated it as a patriarchal usage. -  "Evi- 
dences of Christianity," p. 302, by A. Campbell, Christian  
Publishing Co., St. Louis.  
"The moral and religious institutions  of the patriarchal  
or family worship which continued from the fall of Adam, to  
the covenant of circumcision,  were the Sabbath,  the service  
of the altar, oral instruction, prayer, praise, and benedic- 
tion." (Italics mine). "The Christian System, -  p. 139, by  
A. Campbell.  
Sabbath a Memorial of Creation.  "Heaven left not  
this fact, the basis of a thousand volumes, to be gathered  
from abstract reasonings, vitiated traditions, ingenious an- 
alogies, or feasible conjectures, but from a monumental  
institution, which was as universal as the annals of time, as  
the birth of nations and as the languages spoken by mortals.  
An institution, too, which notwithstanding its demand not  
only on the seventh part of all time, but of the seventh day  
in uninterrupted succession, was celebrated from the crea- 
tion to the deluge, during the deluge, and after the deluge  
till the giving of the law; and which, when transcribed by the  
finger of God from the tablets of memory to the tables of  
Page 26  

marble, begins with the very word  'remember'  the only  
word which is legitimately inscribed in every land and lan- 
guage upon every sort of monumental record, natural, re- 
ligious, moral or political. The humblest pillar that rises 
in honor of the dead has either  'in memory of  inscribed  
in fact or by circumstances upon its front; and so reads the  
fourth precept of the everlasting ten—'Remember that in  
six days God created the heavens and the earth, the sea,  
and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh; where- 
fore,  remember  the seventh day to sanctify and hallow it.'  
"Popular Lectures," by A. Campbell, pp. 283, 284.  
"Let the Bible be substituted for all human creeds. . . .  
The positive commandments of God, for human legisla- 
tion and tradition." "The Christian System," by A. Camp- 
bell, p. 117. And to this principle that the Bible alone should  
be the Christians sole rule in all religious duties let every  
true protestant say,  Amen!  
Page 27


PART TWO  
Sabbath and Sunday in History  
III. SABBATH BEFORE CHRIST  

    
LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  

  

      

      
Sabbath on Creation Tablet.  It is a well-known  
fact that much has come to light through discovery of vari- 
ous records in the ruins of ancient cities in Babylonia, As- 
syria, Egypt, and other countries. Many of these records  
agree in a most striking manner with the Bible. Relating to  
the institution of the Sabbath, we find the following on the  
fifth creation tablet:  
"In the center He placed luminaries;  
The moon He appointed to rule the night,  
And to wander through the night, until the dawn of  
day.  
Every month without fail He made holy assembly days.  
In the beginning of the month, at the rising of the night,  
It shot forth its horus to illuminate the heavens.  
On the seventh He appointed a holy day,  
And to cease from all business He commanded.  
Then arose the sun on the horizon of heaven in glory."  
Quoted in Geikie's  - Hours with the Bible," volume  
1, page 35, edition 1886, published by Alden, New York.  
This is in perfect harmony with what the Bible teaches con- 
cerning the institution of the Sabbath at Creation.  
The Sabbath in Babylon During the Patriarchal  
Age.  The ancient records tell us that the Babylonians had a  
knowledge of the seventh-day Sabbath, and also how they  
Page 28  

observed it. "The Sabbath rest was a Babylonian, as well  
as a Hebrew, institution. Its origin went back to pre- 
Semitic days; and the very name, Sabbath, by which it was  
known in Hebrew, was of Babylonian origin. In the cunei- 
form tablets, the Sabattu is described as 'a day of rest for  
the soul.' A. H. Sayce, in "The Higher Critics and the  
Monuments," page 74, seventh revised edition, 1908, Lon- 
don.  
"The seventh day was a day of prohibitions, bringing  
to mind the Puritanic Sabbath of early New England. A  
translation of the calendar for the seventh day is as follows:  
'The seventh day is a sacred day. The king of the nations  
may not eat meat roasted by fire or food prepared by fire  
(compare Exodus 16:23). The clothes of his body he may  
not change, nor may he wear fine clothing, nor ride in his  
chariot. He may not hold court, nor may he call in a  
physician. At night the king should offer sacrifice that his 
prayer may be acceptable.' Such were the Sabbath laws  
of Babylonia even before the time of Abraham." "The  
Bible and the Spade," page 86, by Edgar J. Banks, Associa- 
tion Press, New York, edition 1913.  
Universal Knowledge of the Sabbath.  One of the  
most conclusive evidences proving that the seventh-day Sab- 
bath was well known to the nations of antiquity, is the fact  
that they designated the seventh day of the week by the  
name of Sabbath. In "A Chart of the Week, Showing the  
True Position of the Sabbath, as Proved by the Combined 
Testimony of Ancient and Modern Languages," by the Rev.  
William Mead Jones, of London, gives the names of  
the week in 160 languages, ancient and modern, in Asia,  
Africa, and Europe, and 108 of these "directly refer to the  
seventh-day Sabbath." Chart published by W. M. Jones  
56 Mildmay Park, N. London.  
Page 29


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE   LIGHT OF THE BIBLE Alqn HISTORY  
It seems that no clearer, more direct and positive evi- 
dence could be given to prove that the Sabbath was known  
to all these nations, ancient and modern. Had the Sab- 
bath first been made known only to Israel at the time of the  
Exodus, 1491 B. C., then it could not have been known and  
called the Sabbath by other people long before the Exodus  
of Israel.  
24.  Ancient Heathen Testimony on the Sabbath.  The  
following quotations from heathen writers on the Sabbath  
are found in Cox's "Literature on the Sabbath Question,"  
vol. 1, pages 275, 276. Edinburgh.  
Hesiod, who lived about the time of Isaiah, says, "The  
first, the fourth, and the seventh day are sacred." Again he  
says, "The seventh again, the sacred or illustrious light of the  
sun.  
Homer says, "Then came the seventh day that is  
sacred." Again: "It was the seventh day, wherein all things  
were finished or perfected."  
The following are Linus' words: "The seventh day,  
wherein all things were finished." Again: "The seventh day  
among the best things, the seventh is the nativity of all  
things." "The seventh day is among the chief est and is the  
perfect day. -  
The following is found in Lee's "Theology," page 370:  
"Calimachus speaks of the seventh day as holy." 
"Lucian says, 'The seventh is given to school boys as  
a holiday.'  It    
"Porphyry says, 'The Phoenicians consecrated one day  
in seven as holy.'  
"Josephus says, 'There is no city, either of Greeks or  
barbarians, or any other nation, where the religion of the  
Sabbath is not known.' -  
"Grotus says, 'That the memory of creation being per-  
Page 30  

formed in seven days, was preserved not only among the  
Greeks and Italians, but among the Celts and Indians, all of  
whom divided their time into weeks.' -  
"Eusebius says, 'Almost all philosophers and poets  
acknowledge the seventh day as holy.'  
"The Greeks and Romans, according to Aretius, conse- 
crated Saturday to rest, conceiving it unfit for civil actions  
and warlike affairs, but suited for contemplation; and a day,  
therefore, on which the Divine patronage was to be implored  
against dangers and misfortunes." "The Sabbath," by Gil- 
fillian, p. 363; see also "Ante-Nicene Fathers, -  vol. 2, p.  
469.  
25.  Sabbath Observed in Ancient China.  "It would  
appear that the Chinese, who now have no Sabbath, at one  
time honored the seventh day of the week, -  says James Gil- 
fillan, in his book "The Sabbath, -  page 360, American  
Tract Society, New York.  
In the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald for Novem- 
ber  4, 1  89 0, page 631, in an article on the "The Sabbath  
in China, -  we find the following:  
"There is a book in the Chinese, called `Yih-Kiung',  
meaning 'the book of Changes.' This book is claimed to  
have originated before the times of Confucius, a number of  
centuries before the first advent of Christ. A copy of it is  
now in possession of the Seventh-day Baptist Mission at  
Shanghai. It speaks of 'the seven-day cycles, during which  
the forces of nature were exhausted, and on the seventh  
day they rest, then go on six days more. The former kings,  
when they came to the seventh day, their gates were closed;  
all business was suspended.' Thus, according to this testi- 
mony, there was an acknowledgment of the seventh-day  
cycle and seventh-day observance at a very early date in  
China."  
Page 3-1


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
26.  The Sabbath in Heathen Africa.  "A recent ac- 
count states that the negroes of Guinea desist on the sev- 
enth day from the labor of fishing." Gilfillan on "The Sab- 
bath," page 362.  
Further light is thrown upon the Sabbath among the  
heathen in Africa in the following from the "Advent Re- 
view and Sabbath Herald" for July 10, 1894, page 448.  
"We have," says the editor, "understood all along that in  
common with the most of languages both living and dead,  
these of the African natives in which the vocabulary for the  
week exists, name the seventh day the Sabbath. In confir- 
mation to this fact, Brother Rudolph who has lately gone to  
the African West coast, writes that the bushmen whom he has  
already visited, call the last day of the week the holy Sab- 
bath. And that in one of the villages, manufacturing of  
salt is suspended upon that day; in another even domestic  
work is laid aside; and this in heathen lands. Thus has the  
light of God's truth penetrated the ages."  
Summary.  From the above extracts taken from re- 
liable sources, we learn that the Sabbath was instituted at  
creation; that it was known to the ancient Babylonians and  
by them observed before Israel came out of Egypt; that the  
seventh day is generally called the Sabbath, in both ancient  
and modern languages; that it was observed by others than  
Israel; that it was known and observed in ancient China; and  
that it is still known and observed by some of the natives of  
Africa. It seems that these historic facts ought to convince  
those who go to history for evidence on this subject, that  
the seventh-day Sabbath cannot be solely an institution of  
Israel, but that it must be a divine institution of universal and  
perpetual obligation.  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
IV SABBATH AND SUNDAY AFTER CHRIST  
Names of the Days of the Week.  The original  
of "the temple of Belus (Tower of Babel) was that of seven  
square towers, rising one above the other, like seven gigan- 
tic steps; each smaller than the one below it, and consecrated  
respectively to the seven planetary gods, to whom they  
formed distinct temples. Beginning with that of Saturn at  
the bottom, that of Venus came next; then one over the  
other, those of Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, the Moon and the  
Sun, the colors assigned to the particular deity—black,  
white, orange, blue, scarlet, silver, and gold—distinguishing  
the respective stories." "Geikies Hours with the Bible," vol.  
1, pp. 214, 215. "The first worship of Babylonia and As- 
syria was directed to the sun, moon, and five planets, from  
which the week of seven days, and the names of these days  
were derived." "Geikies Hours with the Bible," vol. 4, p.  
158. This proves that the names of the seven days of the  
week were derived from the "seven gods of light" and dates  
way back to the early days of Babylon.  
"Sunday,  so called because this day was anciently  
dedicated to the sun or to its worship, the first day of the  
week. -  Webster.  
"Long before Christ was born, the weekly Sunday was  
celebrated by thousands of pagans." "Spiritual Sabbatism,"  
p. 129 by A. H. Lewis.  
No Divine Authority for Sunday.  While all  
Christian scholars acknowledge that the sabbath of the  
fourth command is of divine origin. Many, both Protestant  
and Catholic divines confess that there is no divine author- 
ity for the religious observance of the first day of the week  
instead of "the sabbath of the Lord."  
Coleman says: "No law or precept appears  to have  
Page 31  Page 33


SABBATIII. *TNI'iAY'AItIVFAIDAY IN THE   LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
been given by Christ or the apostles, either for the abroga- 
tion of the Jewish Sabbath or for the institution of the Lord's  
day or the substitution of the first for the seventh day of the  
week. -  "Ancient Christianity Exemplified" by Coleman,  
p. 530 Lippincott, Philadelphia.  -There is no express command for observing the first  
day of the week as a sabbath, and yet it is almost a univer- 
sal custom." Lee's Theology, p. 562.  
The noted Catholic, Cardinal Gibbon, is authority for  
the following: "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." "The Faith of our Fathers," by Cardinal Gib- 
bon, pp. 111, 112, 52nd revised and enlarged edition. It  
is not necessary to quote other authors who acknowledge  
that there is no divine authority for regarding Sunday as the  
Christian sabbath.  
30. Christian Fathers not Inspired. While many ap- 
peal to the Christian Fathers, who wrote after apostolic time,  
for support of dogmas, not found in the Bible, it can not be  
too strongly emphasized that these writings are not inspired,  
hence can not be relied upon as authority. The following  
is from Adam Clark: "But of these (the Fathers) we may  
safely state, that there is not a truth in the most orthodox  
creed, that can not be proved by their authority, nor a  
heresy that has disgraced the Romish Church, that may not  
challenge them as its abettors. In points of doctrine, their  
authority is, with me, nothing. The word of God alone con- 
tains my creed. On a number of points I can go to the  
Greek and Latin Fathers of the church, to know what they  
believed, and what the people of their respective commun- 
ions believed; but after all this I must return to God's word,  
Page 34  

to know what He would have me believe." Adam Clark's  
note on the eighth chapter of Proverbs.  
Testimony of the Fathers Pro and Con. It is a  
fact that we find that the Fathers do not always agree on the  
various subjects on which they write. The Fathers tell us  
that the Sabbath was quite generally observed by the early  
Christians, and that Sunday was kept as a feast day; we  
find that "the seventh day" is called "the Lord's day," and  
that Sunday is called "the Lord's day, -   and that "the Lord's  
supper was celebrated on the Sabbath and also on Sunday.  
This will appear by quotations that follow. But Sunday was  
never called the Sabbath.  
"During the early ages of the Church it (Sunday) was  
never entitled 'the sabbath' ; this word being confined to the  
seventh day of the week, the Jewish sabbath, which, as we  
have already said, continued to be observed for several  
centuries by the converts to Christianity." "Ancient Chris- 
tianity Exemplified," by Lyman Coleman, p. 529, Philadel- 
phia, Lippincott, Grambo and Co., 1853.  
Seventh the Lord's Day. From quotations that  
follow it will be seen that the Ante-Nicene Father's testify  
in favor of both Sabbath and Sunday observance. Of  
course all will admit that both these days can not have  
divine sanction, so all that can be done is to compare with  
the inspired word of God, and accept and observe that day  
which is in harmony with the sacred scriptures.  
From the "Acts of John," dating probably from the  
second century (see Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 8, p. 357),  
we learn that John, the Evangelist, fasted for a time on his 
way to be tried before the Emperor Domitian. But "on the  
seventh day, it being the Lord's day, he said to them: Now  
it is time for me also to partake of food." "Ante-Nicene Fath- 
ers," vol. 8, p. 561.  
Page 35


SABBATH. SUNDAY AND FRIDAY TN THE   LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
After his return from his exile on Patmos we read: "On  
the following day, which was the Lord's day, and in the  
presence of the brethren he began to say to them: 'Breth- 
ren,' etc. Following his instruction to the brethren, we read  
again: "And having broken the bread, he gave it to us,  
praying for each of the brethren, that he might be worthy  
of the eucharist of the Lord." Ibid pp. 562, 563. The  
above proves that John, the apostle and revelator, called  
"the seventh day" "the Lord's day," that he had a meeting  
with his brethren and celebrated Eucharist with them on  
this day.  
In the "Teachings of the Twelve Apostles," a docu- 
ment discovered 1873, and written in the years, probably  
between 120-160 A. D., but in which there is "every prob- 
ability of Minor Corruptions" (Introductory Notice, "Ante- 
Nicene Fathers," vol. 7, pp. 372-375), we find the following  
on p. 381, same volume: "But every Lord's day do ye  
gather yourselves together, and break bread, and giving  
thanks after having confessed your transgressions, that your  
sacrifice may be pure. -  We observe that the day of the  
week is not specified and since there is no evidence that the  
first day of the week had yet received the title of "the Lord's  
day," we may justly conclude that this Lord's day in this  
citation was the seventh day" as shown above by the quota- 
tion from the "Acts of John."  
Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth A. D. 170. Wrote thus:  
"we passed this holy Lord's day, in which we read your  
letter, from the constant reading of which we shall be able  
to draw admonition, even as from the reading of the former  
one you sent is written through Clement." "Ante-Nicene  
Fathers," vol. 8, p.  70.  The day of the week is not here  
specified. There is evidence that Sunday was rug called the  
Lord's day before474; A. D. Nor can we find any of the  
Page 36  

Ante-Nicene Fathers ever called the first day of the week  
the "holy Lord's day." The "Lord's holy day" is the  
Sabbath. Isa. 58:13. See Par. 17 above. "A ,    
That the Christians observed the Sabbath for worship  
even at the time of the council of Laodicea, (364, 365 A.  
D.) is proved by Canon 16, canon of that council which  
reads thus: "The Gospels are to be read on the Sabbath  
day (Saturday) with the other scriptures."  
History of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. "Post- 
Nicene Fathers," vol. 14, p. 133.  
That Christians celebrated the eucharist on the Sab- 
bath—Saturday—is evident from what Socrates (A. D.  
305-439), writes in the fourth century; "Almost all Chris- 
tians throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries  
(Lord's Supper) on the Sabbath (Saturday) of every  
week." "Post-Nicene Fathers," vol. 2, p. 132.  
"Newly Discovered 'Sayings of Our Lord. '  ft  
"Most wonderful seemed the discovery of Grenfell and  
Hunt when, in 1896, they dug up at Oxyrhynchus a collec- 
tion of 'Sayings of Jesus dating from the third century of  
our era and purporting to come from the lips of our Lord  
himself." The following is one of his "seven or eight say- 
ings:" "Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in  
no wise find the kingdom of God; and except ye make the  
Sabbath a real Sabbath, ye shall not see the Father." "The  
New Archelogical Discoveries, by Camden M. Cobern, pp.  
211, 212, Funk and Wagnalls Co., New York.  
Pliny's Testimony.  During the early part of the  
second century Pliny, governor of Bythinia, wrote to emper- 
or Trajan asking for advice in regard to the punishment of  
Christians. The following occurs in this letter: "They, (the  
Christians) affirmed, the whole of their guilt, or error, was,  
that they met on a certain stated day before it was light,  
Page 37


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
and addressed themselves in a form of prayer to Christ, as  
to some God, binding themselves by a solemn oath, not for  
the purpose of any wicked design, but never to commit any  
fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor  
deny a trust when they should be called to deliver it up;  
after which, it was their custom to separate and re-assemble  
to eat in common a harmless meal." "Pliny's Letters," vol. 2,  
Book 10, Letter 97. Same is found' in "Josephus Disert- 
ation" 3, p. 853.  
- This statement is evidence that these Christians kept  
a day as holy time, but whether it was the last, or the first  
day of the week, does not appear. -  "Ancient Christianity  
Exemplified" by Coleman, p. 528.  
Since it is an admitted fact by first-day scholars that  
the seventh day of the week was observed by Christians, 
this stated day in Plinys' letter may have been the Sabbath  
of the Lord. See History of the Sabbath by Andrew and  
Conradi, pp. 266, 267.  
35.  Barnabas' Epistle is often quoted in favor of Sun- 
day observance. But "the Epistle of Barnabas, bearing the  
honored name of the companion of Paul in his Missionary  
labors, is evidently spurious. It abounds in fabulous nar- 
ratives, mystic allegorical interpretation of the Old Testa- 
ment, and fanciful conceits; and is generally agreed by the  
learned to be of no authority." Coleman's "Ancient Chris- 
tianity Exemplified," p. 47.  
The "Catholic Encyclopedia," vol. 2, p. 299, dates  
this epistle 130-131, A. D.  
A portion of chapter 15 in Barnabas epistle reads  
thus: 'It is written concerning the Sabbath in the Decalogue  
which (the Lord) spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount  
Sinai, 'And sanctify ye the Sabbath of the Lord with clean  
hands and pure hearts' . . . If, therefore, any one can now  
Page 38  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY*  
sanctify the day which God hath sanctified, except he is pure  
in heart in all things, we are deceived . . . wherefore; also,  
we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on 
which Jesus rose again from the dead. -  "Ante-Nicene  
Fathers, -  Vol. 1, pp. 146,  147.  
Justin Edward in "Sabbath Manual, -  p.118, Gilfillan  
in "the Sabbath" p. 368, Hessey in "Sunday" p. 55, and  
"Schaff in History of the Christian Church, -  vol. 1, p. 202,  
quote only the last sentence of Barnabas, to wit, "we  
(Christians) keep the eight with Joyfulness, the day also on  
which Jesus rose again from the dead" and omit, that no  
"one can now sanctify the day which God hath sanctified,  
except he is pure in heart in all things. -  Why these authors  
omit what Barnabas says about true Sabbath keeping and 
quote only what he says about keeping the day of Christ's  
resurrection with joyfulness must be left with the reader to  
decide.  
We may form somewhat of an opinion of the character  
of Barnabas' epistles from ch. 10, wherein he says, "the  
hyena. . . . annually changes its sex, and is at one time male  
and at another time female," and much more which is not fit  
for public print. "Ante-Nicene Fathers, -  Vol. 1, p. 143.  
36.  'gating.  Fifteen epistles are attributed to  
Ignatius in the beginning of the second century, but only  
seven of these are considered genuine, and they appear in  
two forms, a longer and shorter form. These seven are re- 
garded to be the genuine yet not free from interpolations.  
Whiston maintains the longer form of later date superior.  
Scholars are not however agreed on this subject. See "Ante- 
Nicene Fathers," vol. 1, pp. 45-48.  
From chapter 9, the shorter form, in his epistle to the  
Magnesians we quote: "If, therefore, those who were  
brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the  
Page 39  

io


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE   LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath,  
but living in the observance of the Lord's day, on which also  
our life has sprung up again by him." Ibid, p. 62.  
"There is however in the original no word or phrase  
which corresponds to the phrase 'the Lord's day' or to thq  
word 'keeping': the literal translation is, `no longer observ- 
ing sabbaths but living according to the Lord's life (kata  
Kuriaken Zoen Zoentes) in which our life is sprung up."  
"Cox's Liturature of the Sabbath," vol. I p. 119.  
The longer form of this epistle, which is believed to be  
of a much later date, reads thus, "But let every one of you  
keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in the 
meditation on the law. . . . And after the observance of th  
Sabbath, let every friend of Christ, keep the Lord's day as a  
festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the  
days (of the week)." "Ante-Nicene Fathers," vol. 1, pp.  
62, 63. According to these words the first day of the week  
was only kept as a festival after the spiritual observance of  
the Sabbath. Now why some writers quote only what Ignatius  
says in his longer Epistle to the Magnesions about keeping  
"the Lord's day as a festival" and omit what he says about  
keeping "the Sabbath after a spiritual manner," if it is not  
to convey the idea that no other day was then observed by  
Christians? The reader will have to decide why such omis- 
sions are made." See par. 35 above. Concerning the mer- 
its of Ignatius'Epistles, see introductory note, "Ante-Nicene  
Fathers," vol.  1, pp. 45-48; "Critical History of Sabbath and  
Sunday," by A. H. Lewis, pp. 16-23.  
37.  Justin Martyr.  He wrote his first apology  
from which the following is quoted: "And on the day  
called Sunday, all who live in the cities or in the country  
gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the  
apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as  
Page 40  

time permits; then when the reader has ceased the president  
verbally instructs and exorts to the imitation of 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 as- 
sent, 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. . . .  
Sunday is the day on which we hold our common assembly,  
because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a  
change in darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus  
Christ our Saviour rose from the dead." Ibid p. 186.  
It is evident from this statement that religious meetings  
were on Sunday at which time the Lord's supper was cele- 
brated. Now if it be true that the first day of the week was  
known by the title "Lord's day," why then did he call it by  
its heathen title "Sunday"?  
38.  Testimony of Tertullian.  200 A. D. Let us hear  
what he says about Sunday observance. "If we devote  
Sun-day to rejoicing, from a far different reason than Sun- 
worship, we have some resemblance to those who devote  
the day of Saturn (Saturday) to ease and luxury, though 
they go too far away from Jewish ways, of which indeed  
they are ignorant. -  "Ante-Nicene Fathers, -  vol. 3, p. 31.  
"Others, with greater regard to good manners, it must  
be confessed, suppose that the sun is the god of the Christ- 
ians, because it is a well known fact that we pray towards the  
east, or because we make Sunday a day of festivity." Ibid.  
p. 123.  
"As often as the anniversary comes around, we make  
offerings for the dead as birthday honors. We count fasting  
or kneeling in worship on the Lord's day to be unlawful.  
Page 4l


SABBATH. SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
We rejoice in the same privilege from Easter to Whitsunday.  
We feel pained should any wine or bread, even though our  
own, be cast upon the ground. At every forward step and  
movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our  
clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at the table,  
when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordin- 
ary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign  
(of the cross)."  
"If for these and other such rules, you insist upon hav- 
ing positive scripture injunction, you will find none. Tradi- 
tion will be held forth to you as the originator of them, cus-
tom as their strengthener, and faith as their observer. That  
reason will support tradition, and custom, and faith you will  
either yourself perceive, or learn from some who have."  
Ibid, pp. 94, 95.  
This proves there was no divine authority for such wor- 
ship on the Lord's day or Sunday nor for any of the other  
things mentioned in the last quotation from Tertullian's  
writing.  
The above seems to have been written before "he broke  
with the Catholic Church." 207. See "Schaffs and Herzogs  
New Encyclopedia," vol. 11, p. 305.  
The following from his writings were written by him af- 
ter he became a Montanist: "Christ did not all rescind the  
Sabbath; he kept the law thereof and both in all the former  
case did a work which was beneficial to the life of his disci- 
ples. . . . He exhibits in a clear light the different kinds of  
work, while doing what the law expects from the sacredness  
of the Sabbath, and while imparting to the Sabbath-day it- 
self, which from the beginning had been consecrated by the  
benediction of the Father, an additional sanctity by his own  
beneficent action. For he furnished to this day divine safe- 
guards,—a course which his adversary would have pursued  
Page 42  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
for some other days, to avoid honoring the Creator's Sab- 
bath, and restoring to the Sabbath the works that were pro- 
per for it." "Ante-Nicene Fathers," vol. 3, pp. 363, 364.  
Since this last citation was written after he became "the  
leader and the passionate and brilliant exponent of Montan- 
ism," we may justly conclude that the Montanists observed  
the Sabbath of the Lord.  
39.  First Day of the Week Called "The Lord's Day."  
"The 'Lord's day' of the Catholic church can be traced no  
nearer to John than A. D. 194, or perhaps in strict truth, to  
A. D. 200, and those who then use the name show plainly  
that they did not believe it to be the Lord's day by apostolic  
appointment," Andrew's "History of the Sabbath," pp. 228,  
229, edition of 1887.  
Clement of Alexandria, A. D. 194 calls "the eighth  
day" "the Lord's day." Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2, p. 469.  
Tertullian about A. D. 200 gives the title of "Lord's  
day" to the resurrection day of Christ. Ibid, vol. 3, pp. 70,  
94, 678, 689.  
The term "the Lord's day" is often applied to the first  
day of the week in the "Constitutions of the Apostles,"  
which date from the third or fourth century A. D. See  
"Introductory Notice," "Ante-Nicene Fathers," vol. 7, p.  
488. Thus we read: "The first day of the week which is the  
Lord's day;" he "rose again at break of day on the Lord's  
day." This same term "Lord's day" is found several times  
in  these constitutions. Ibid, pp. 447-449.  
But these early writers who applied the term "Lord's  
day" to the day of the Lord's resurrection never gave any  
Scripture authority therefor. Augustine, in a letter dated  
396, writes thus: "The day  now  known as the Lord's day  
was then called the first day of the week, as is plainly  seen  
in the Gospels." Then he quotes the Greek of Matthew  and  
•  
Page  43


"'V  
SABBATH. SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
the other three evangelists to prove that the day of the  
Lord's resurrection was "called the first day of the week."  
Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, pp.268, 269. This proves con- 
clusively that he found no scriptural authority for applying  
the term "Lord's day" to the first day of the week.  
I have examined carefully the fourteen large volumes  
of the Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, —of which the first  
eight were written by Augustine, and the last six by Chrys- 
ostom,—on this subject and can truly say that these two  
Christian writers never quoted Rev. 1 :10 or any other text  
to prove that Sunday was the "Lord's day," or that it was 
to be observed for rest and worship.  
I have likewise examined the fourteen volumes of the  
Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, with same object in  
view, and I have not found one reference to Rev. 1 :10 or to  
any other text to prove that the day of Christ's resurrection  
was the "Lord's day, -   or that this day was to supplant the  
Sabbath of the Lord. In the first three volumes of this  
Second Series will be found the early church histories, writ- 
ten by Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, reach- 
ing down to 45 7 A. D.; but in these histories we find nothing  
about the change of the Sabbath or that Sunday is the Lord's  
day by divine appointment. Rev. 1 :10 is referred to only  
once, to wit, Vol. 3, p. 1 79, but not in connection with Sun-
day. The other eleven volumes of this series reach down to  
the seventh century, but no Scripture is quoted by them to  
prove Sunday observance. If any person question these  
statements, then let him give the reference to the above  
mentioned authorities which will disprove them.  
From the fact that all these so-called Christian Fathers  
never gave any Bible evidence for calling Sunday the  
"Lord's day, -  or that this day was of divine appointment,  
we must therefore conclude that this dogma has no founda-  
Page 44  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
tion in the word of God. The texts now so often quoted, to  
wit, Acts 2 :1 ; 20:7;  I  Cor. 1 6:2; Rev. 1 :10, in favor of  
Sunday observance is an invention of later ages; for had the  
Christians of the first six or seven hundred years seen any  
proof in them for the substitution of Sunday for the Sabbath  
they would have used them as evidence for such a change,  
but they did not. See paragraph 19 above.  
Religious Meetings on Both Days.  According to  
the Apostolic Constitutions, religious meetings were held  
on both days. "Assemble yourselves together . . . sing- 
ing psalms and praying in the Lord's house . . . princi- 
pally on the Sabbath day. And on the day of our Lord's  
resurrection , which is the Lord's day, meet more diligently,  
sending praise to God that made the universe by Jesus, and  
sent him to us, and condescended to let him suffer, and raised  
him from the dead." "Ante-Nicene Fathers, -   vol. 7, p. 423.  
"But keep the Sabbath, and the Lord's day festival;  
because the former is the memorial of creation and the  
latter of the resurrection." Ibid, p. 469.  
Lord's Supper Celebrated on the Sabbath.  Soc- 
rates, a barrister in Constantinople, wrote an impartial  
"Church History -   305-439 A. D. Some eminent scholars  
say that he was a "member of the Novation sect." His  
testimony relating to Sabbath observance reads thus: "For  
although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate  
the sacred mysteries (the Lord's Supper) on the Sabbath  
of every week, yet Christians of Alexandria and at Rome,  
on account of some ancient tradition have ceased to do  
this. The Egyptians in the neighborhood of Alexandria and  
the inhabitants of Thebais, hold their religious assemblies  
on the Sabbath, but do not participate of the mysteries in the  
manner usual among Christians in general; for after having  
eaten and satisfied themselves with food of all kinds in the  
Page 45


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
evening partake of the mysteries." "Post-Nicene Fathers,"  
Second Series, Vol. 2, p.132. This testimony proves that  
the Christian churches observed the Sabbath (Saturday)  
and celebrated the Lord's Supper on that day. Compare  
paragraph 17, 18.  
"We Have Transferred to the Lord's Day."  "Eu- 
sebius, church historian of the fourth century, in his com- 
mentary on the Psalms makes this statement on the 92nd  
Psalm, respecting the change of the Sabbath: "All things  
whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath ( Jewish  
seventh day) these we have transferred to the Lord's day,  
as more appropriately belonging to it, because it has a pre- 
cedence and is first in rank, and more honorable than the  
Jewish Sabbath. . . . Wherefore it is delivered to us, (it is  
handed down by tradition) that we should meet together  
on that day." Cox's "Literature on the Sabbath," vol. 1, p.  
361. This statement proves that they, Eusebius, Constan- 
tine, and bishops were the authors of this change and that  
they learned it from tradition. But no New Testament  
authority is given for such a change.  
Constantine's Sunday Law.  Unquestionably  
the first Sunday law 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  
Sunday. 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 planting of vines can-  
not be so advantageously performed on any other day; lest  
by neglecting the opportunity, they should lose the benefits  
which the divine bounty bestows on us. -   "Library of Uni- 
versal Knowledge." Art. Sabbath; "Chamber's Encyclo- 
pedia," Art. Sabbath.  
Mosheim remarks thus on this Sunday law: "The first  
Page 46  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
day of the week  (on  which Christians were accustomed to  
meet for worship of God) Constantine required by a special  
law to be observed more sacredly than before." Mosheim's  
"Ecclesiastical History," Book II, Century IV, Part II, Chap.  
4, sec. 4. Query:  If Christians observed the first day of the  
week more sacredly after Constantine's Sunday edict, which  
permitted all kinds of work in the country, then how was  
it observed before this edict of 321 A. D.?  
Christians Worked on Sunday.  There is no his- 
toric evidence whatever that Christians abstained from or- 
dinary labor on Sundays outside of the religious services.  
On the contrary they worked when not at religious meetings.  
Jerome wrote in 404, A. D. concerning the pius Paula,  
who had charge of numerous virgins at Bethlehem, and  
tells us of their work after their religious services: on "the  
Lord's day. -  "On the Lord's day, -  he says, "only they  
proceed to the church beside which they lived, each com- 
pany following its own Mother-superior. Returning home  
in the same order, they then devoted themselves to their  
alloted tasks, and made garments either for themselves or  
else for others. -  "Post-Nicene Fathers, -   1st Series, vol. 6,  
p. 206.  
Hessey in his Lecture, on Sunday, p. 99, "remarks that"  
Jerome does not, however, appear to have considered it in- 
dispensable to refrain on Sunday from all ordinary employ- 
ments. -  
The Bishop of Ely writes thus: "In St. Jerome's days,  
and in the very place where he was residing, the devoutest  
Christians did ordinary work upon the Lord's day, when the  
service of the church was ended. -   Quoted in Andrew's  
"History of the Sabbath, -  p. 366.  
Sabbath and Sunday Festival.  Up till the time of  
the council of Laodicea about 364 A. D. the seventh  day  
Page  47


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
of the week was devoted to rest and worship by Christians,  
Sunday was observed as a festival in memory of Christ's  
resurrection, but they did not refrain from work after their 
religious services.  
"From the apostle's time until the council of Laodicea,  
which was about the year 364, the holy observation of  
the Jews, Sabbath continued, as may be proved out of  
many authors; yea, notwithstanding the decree of that  
council against it." Words of John Ley quoted in Andrews  
"History of the Sabbath," p. 362.  
46.  Sunday Substituted for the Sabbath by the Pa- 
pacy.  The Catholic Church boasts of having substituted  
Sunday for the Sabbath and the following historic facts  
prove this true: From the "Convert's Cathecism of Catholic  
Doctrine," p. 50, which has received the approval and bless- 
ing of the pope, we find the following: "Q. Which is the  
Sabbath day? A. Saturday is the Sabbath day. Q. why  
do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? A. We observe  
Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church in  
the council of Laodicea (A. D. 336) transferred the sol- 
emnity from Saturday to Sunday." This Cathecism is pub- 
lished by Herder, St. Louis, Mo. 1910.  
The Council of Laodicea was a provincial synod held  
at Laodicea in Phrygia, Asia Minor, between 343-381, but  
by some historians believed to have been held about, 364-  
5 A. D. The 29th Canon reads thus: "Christians must not  
Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that  
day, rather honoring the Lord's day; and if they can, rest- 
ing then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be  
Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ." "Post-Nicene  
Fathers Second Series," vol.  1 4, p. 148.  
According to this canon Christians are required to give  
up the Sabbath by working on that day under a curse. From  
Page 48  
Page 49  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
this it is evident that the observance of Sunday instead of 
the Sabbath is regarded as a sign or mark of Christianity by  
the papacy.  
Approved by a General Council.  Some claim  
that since this was only a provincial council, therefore its  
canons are not binding upon the whole Catholic Church.  
But those who raise this objection can not be aware of the  
fact that the General Council held in 692 in Canon II set  
"its seal of approval to the canons of Laodicea in the fol- 
lowing words: 'But we set our seal likewise upon all other  
holy canons set forth by our holy and blessed Fathers, that  
is by the 318 holy God-fearing Fathers assembled at Nice,  
and those of Ancyra, further those at Neocasarea and like- 
wise those at Gangra, and besides those at Antioch in Syria;  
those at Laodicea in Phrygia.'"  This of course proves that  
the council of Laodicea substituting the observance of the  
first day of the week for that of the Sabbath of the Lord  
has become a law of the whole Catholic Church. "Post- 
Nicene Fathers," Second Series, Vol. 14, p. 361.  
Sunday Law Approved by the Pope.  In order to  
get a clear understanding of how no law is binding upon  
the Catholic Church without the popes approval, it will be  
necessary to present the teachings of papacy on this subject.  
First.  Pope in the place of God. "We hold upon this  
earth," says Pope Leo XIII, "the place of God Almighty."  
Again. "The supreme teacher of the church is the Roman  
Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a  
perfect accord in one faith, complete submission and obed- 
ience of will to the church and to the Roman Pontiff as to  
God himself." "The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII,"  
pp. 304, 193, Benziger Brothers, Chicago.  
Second.  Pope Lawmaker. "The decrees of the Ro- 
man Pontiffs constitute the chief source of canon law; nay


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE   LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
more, the entire canon law, in the strict sense of the term,  
is based upon their (the popes) legislative authority." "El- 
ements of Ecclesiastical Law" by S. B. Smith, D. D., vol. 1,  
p. 17, Benziger Brothers, Chicago. This work has the ap- 
proval of two Catholic censors and four Catholic arch- 
bishops hence of authority.  
"Legislative power over the entire church is vest in the  
Roman Pontiff;" "Therefore the primacy of jurisdiction  
vested in the sovereign Pontiff essentially contains the power  
to make laws binding upon the entire Church." Ibid, pp.  
18, 19.  
"The acts of the council must be confirmed or approved  
by the Pope. - - No council is eucumenical save when ap- 
proved by the Sovereign Pontiff." Ibid, pp. 32, 52.  
The above quotations from standard Catholic authori- 
ties prove that the pope has power to make laws for the en- 
tire Catholic Church, and that no canon passed by any  
council is binding unless it has the approval of the Pope.  
In view of this it is evident that the canon substituting Sun- 
day for the Sabbath would not have been binding had it  
not received the approval of the Pope, hence the Sovereign  
Pontiff may be regarded as the ultimate source or power  
changing the Sabbath of God's holy law. Therefore it may  
be truly said that "the pope has changed the day of rest  
from the seventh to the first day. -   "Early writings," pp.  
33, 65, edition of 1918.  
49. Popes Condemn Sabbath Keepers as Antichrist.  
Pope Gregory (590-604), wrote a letter to the citizens of  
Rome about 603 from which the following excerpt is taken:  
"Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to his most  
beloved sons the Roman citizens. It has come to my ears  
that certain men of perverse spirit have sown among you  
some things that are wrong and opposed to the holy faith,  
Page 50  

so as to forbid any work being done on the Sabbath-day.  
What else can I call these but preachers of Anti-christ, who,  
when he come, will cause the Sabbath-day as well as the  
Lord's-day to be keep free from all work."  
"On the Lord's day, however, there should be a ces- 
sation of earthly labor, and attention given every way to  
prayers, so that if anything is done negligently during the  
six days, it may be expiated by supplications on the day of  
the Lord's resurrection. -   "Post-Nicene Fathers, -   Second  
Series, vol. 13, p. 92.  
"Pope Nicholas (858-867 A. D.) declares that the  
doctrine of Saturday idleness is the doctrine of Anti-christ,  
and adds that idleness on Sunday and pretermission legal  
proceedings are obligatory." "Law of Sunday by Ringgold," 
p. 270.  
The above quotations from these two popes, prove  
first, that there must have been both Sabbath-keeping  
preachers and adherents to this doctrine in sufficient num- 
bers in the seventh and ninth centuries to call forth a re- 
proof against them by these "sovereign Pontiffs." Second,  
that these observers of the Lord's Sabbath are branded as  
Anti-christs; third, that all labor is prohibited on the Lord's  
day; fourth, that popes are the ultimate authority for setting  
aside the Sabbath and substituting Sunday instead thereof 
and fifth that working on the Sabbath and resting on Sunday  
is a sign of Christianity.  
50. Persecuted for not Working on the Sabbath.  
Since a curse was pronounced in the 29th canon for not  
working on the Sabbath, and since the Roman Pontiff  
brands Sabbath-keepers as antichrist, it logically follows  
that such persons would be persecuted because they refused  
to work on the Sabbath although they abstained from work  
on Sunday and of this we have a concrete example.  
Page 5/


SABBATH. SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
History relates the following concerning Mrs. Trask, a  
conscientious Christian who observed the Sabbath of the  
Lord: "At last for teaching only five days in the week, and  
resting upon Saturday, it being known upon what account  
she did it, she was carried to the new prison in Maiden  
Lane, a place then appointed for the restraint of several  
other persons of different opinions from the church of  
England." "Mrs. Trask lay in prison fifteen or sixteen years  
for her opinions about the Saturday Sabbath." Andrew's  
"History of the Sabbath," pp. 486. 487. See also "Critical  
History of the Sabbath and Sunday" by A. H. Lewis, p. 299.  
It must be admitted that if any authority can by law  
compel people to rest on a given day of the week, that the  
same authority can compel people to work on any day that  
may be designed. For that reason Mrs. Trask was punished  
because she would not work on Saturday. And this we may  
expect will be repeated when civil authorities will make like  
religious laws.  
51.  Petitions For Sunday Laws Granted.  During the  
latter part of the fourth century the clergy complained be- 
cause their church members absented themselves from re- 
ligious services by going to places of amusements. "Owing  
to the prevailing passion at that time, especially in large  
cities, to run after the various public shows, it so happened  
that when these spectacles fell on the same days which had  
been consecrated by the church to some religious festival,  
they proved a great hindrance to the devotion of Christians,  
though chiefly, it must be allowed to those whose Chris- 
tianity was the least an affair of the life and of the heart.  
Church-teachers, such as Chrysostom, were, in truth, often  
forced to complain, that in such competitions, the theater  
was vastly more frequented than the church. . . . Hence, the  
North-African church resolved, at an eccelesiastical conven-  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
tion held at Carthage in 401, to petition the Emperor, that  
the public shows might be transferred from the Christian  
Sunday and from feast days to some other days of the  
week. . . . First, in the year 425, the exhibition of spectacles  
on Sunday, and on the principal feast days of the Christians,  
was forbidden, in order that the devotion of the faithful  
might be free from all disturbance. In this way, the church  
received help from the state for the furtherance of her ends,  
which could not be obtained in the preceding period."  
Neander's "History of the Christian Religion and Church,"  
vol. 2, pp. 300, 301. "Troy's Translation," eight American  
edition, Boston 1857.  
Note. Such like petitions have often been made in our day  
by the Christian clergy to civil authorities for religious Sunday  
laws to close all places of amusements in order that people will  
not be drawn from religious services on Sundays. Thus history  
repeats itself.  
52.  Sabbath Observance During the Dark Ages.  The  
following proves positively that there have been Christians  
during the Christian dispensation who observed the Sabbath  
of the Lord:  
"In the Western Church the seventh day continued to  
be observed quite generally till the fifth century, and traces  
of it were noticeable in some parts of Europe much later.  
In Scotland and Ireland, as well as in England, the seventh  
day was regarded and observed as the Sabbath in the elev- 
enth century and later. In "Skene's Celtic Scotland," p. 350,  
vol. 2, there is this statement: There was no want of the  
veneration of Sunday, though they held that Saturday was  
properly the Sabbath, on which they abstained from work.  
In the Oriental or Greek branch of the church the seventh  
day continues to be observed to this day.  
"There is not wanting evidence that an unbroken chain  
of observers of the seventh day was preserved, in the face  
Page  52  Page 53


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE   LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
of detraction and persecution, all through the dark ages,  
and that they appeared in the dawn of the Protestant Re- 
formation, and were represented in that movement by a  
number of its prominent actors.  
"In the Abyssinian, Armenian, and Nestorian churches  
the seventh day has not yet been supplanted by the first  
day of the week. Consult Geddes: 'History of the Church of  
Ethiopia,' London, 1694; Gobat: 'Three Years in Abyssin- 
ia,' London, 2d ed., 1847; Stanley: 'History of the Eastern  
Church,' 1861." "Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious  
Knowledge," vol. IV, Article Seventh-Day Baptists.  
53.  "The Augsburg Confession."  The following quo-  
tations from "The Augsburg Confession" will show how the  
German Reformers looked upon the subject Sabbath and  
Sunday.  
"Neither must we subscribe to Catholic bishops, if they  
chance to err, or determine anything contrary to the canoni- 
cal divine Scriptures. . . . There is a controversy as to wheth- 
er bishops or pastors have the power to institute ceremonies  
in the church, and to make laws concerning meats, holidays,  
and degrees, or orders of Ministers, and so forth. They  
(Catholic bishops) allege the changing of the Sabbath into  
the Lord's day, contrary, as it seemeth, to the decalogue;  
and they have no example more in their mouths than the  
change of the Sabbath. They will needs have the power to  
be very great, because it has done away with a precept of the  
decalogue. "The Library of Original Sources, -   vol. 5, pp.  
173, 174.  
"Such is the observance of the Lord's day, Easter,  
Pentecost, and other holidays and rites. For they that think  
that the observation of the Lord's day was appointed by the  
authority of the church, instead of the Sabbath, as neces- 
sary, are greatly mistaken. The scripture, which teacheth  
Page 54  

that all the Mosaical ceremonies can be omitted after the  
gospel is revealed, has abrogated the Sabbath. And still,  
because it was required to appoint a certain day, that the  
people might know when they should come together, it  
seems that the Christian church did for that purpose appoint  
the Lord's day: which for this cause also appears to have  
been pleasing, that men might have an example of Christ- 
ian Liberty and might know that the observation, neither of  
the Sabbath, nor of any other day, was necessary. -  Ibid,  
p. 176.  
From this quotation from "The Augsburg Confession"  
we learn that the German Reformers regarded "Lord's day"  
only as an institution of church and that those who believed  
its observation "as necessary as greatly mistaken." But they  
give no inspired Scripture for it.  
A Summary.  From the facts already presented  
we learn that Sunday was anciently dedicated to the Sun:  
see par. 28; that Christian scholars confess that there is no  
divine authority for Sunday Sabbath; par. 29. That the  
first Sunday edict was issued by Constantine in 321, when he  
dedicated Sunday to the Sun-god, and it permitted all kinds  
of agriculture on this day; par. 43; that papacy substituted  
Sunday for the Sabbath under a curse; par. 46, and that the  
Reformers acknowledge that there was no divine authority  
for the observance of "the Lord's day," par 53.  
Dr. Hiscox's Confession.  "There was and is a  
commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sab- 
bath day is 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, with all its  
duties, privileges, and sanctions. Earnestly desiring infor- 
mation on this subject, which I have studied for so many  
years, I ask, Where can the record of such a transaction be  
Page 55


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. There  
is no Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath insti- 
tution from the seventh to the first day of the week. . . .  
"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come  
into use in early Christian history as a religious day, as we 
learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources. But  
what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism,  
and christened with the name of the sun-god, when adopted  
and sanctified by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a  
sacred legacy to Protestantism. -  Dr. Edward T. Hiscox,  
author of "The Baptist Manual," in a paper read before a  
New York Ministers' Conference, held Nov. 13, 1893.  
Quoted in Source Book for Bible Students," pp. 473, 474.  
V. FRIDAY THE MOHAMMEDAN SABBATH  
Mohammed God's Apostle.  Mohammed was  
born in Arabia about 570 A. D. and died 632. He was the  
founder of Mohammedanism or of Islamism. The funda- 
mental principles of Mohammedanism are, "There is no  
God but God; and Mohammed is his Apostle." At the 
age of 40 he claimed to have received his first "divine"  
communication from God. He claimed that he was sent of  
God to overthrow all polytheism, and also to purge and re- 
form, first the religions of the Arabs, and next those of the  
Jews and Christians. In the course of about eleven years  
he brought all Arabia under his dominion and purged it of  
Idolatry. Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina in 622  
A. D. and this date is called "Higra or Hegira" and from this  
year the Mohammedans date their history.  
Koran or Alkoran  is the scriptures of the Mo- 
hammedans and contains the professed revelations of Mo-  

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
hammed. It contains twenty-nine chapters and is univer- 
sally allowed to be written with the utmost elegance and  
purity of language. The doctrine of the Koran is the unity  
of God, and Mohammed pretends that the chief end of his  
mission was to restore this unity. It contains the necessary  
laws and admonitions to the worship and reverence of the  
true God as well as civil laws.  
58.  Friday the Mohammedan Sabbath.  "Friday is  
observed in the same way as Saturday by the Jews and Sun- 
day by the Christians.  
"Mohammed established this day as a day of worship  
by divine command, as he declared.  In  the 'Traditions' he  
says that Friday was ordered to be a day of worship both  
for Jews and Christians, but that they have acted contrary  
to the command. In the 'Quran,' Surah 62 which is entitled  
'The Assembly,' we read : '0 true believers, when you are  
called to prayer on the Day of the Assembly hasten to the  
commemoration of God, and leave merchandizing. This  
will be better for you, if ye knew it.' -  - The Jewish and  
Mohammedan Calendars, -  p. 387, published by Sherrard  
Beaumont Burnaby, London, 1901. "Alkoran," chapter 62,  
p. 411, by George Sale, London. 1891.  
VI. A SUMMARY AND COMPARISON  
59.  Three Weekly Sabbaths---Which of these is Di- 
vine?  From the evidence already presented we find that  
there are three days in each week observed by the human  
race.  
First.  Friday is the day which 225,000,000 Moham- 
medans observe for the worship of God. But this day is  
only of human origin, unless we accept Mohammed as inspir-  
Page  57


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN  THE  
ed of God, which his followers believe and teach. But no 
evidence has ever been given to prove that Mohammed was  
a true prophet. The propagation of his religion by the sword  
is most convincing proof against his being inspired of God.  
Second. The first day of the week is now generally  
observed by the great body of Greek Catholic, Roman  
Catholic, and Protestant Christians. But it is confessed by  
the most able and learned scholars of these three branches of  
Christianity that there is no divine or Bible authority for  
this practice. See par. 29, 54.  
It is therefore only a man made institution, making  
void the Sabbath command of God. "In vain do they  
worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of  
men. -  Matt. 15:9.  
Third. All who read and believe the Bible to be in- 
spired of God admit that the Sabbath of the Lord was in- 
stituted by the creator and made for man. Gen. 2:1-3;  
Ex. 20:8-11; Mark 2:27. This seventh day Sabbath is  
based upon the facts of creation and is therefore as un- 
changeable as creation itself.  
The learned and noted Alexander Campbell in the  
"Christian Baptist," p. 44, Cincinnati, 1855, states this truth  
clearly and forcibly in the following manner:  '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 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  Doc- 
tor Antichrist."  
Page 58   

LIGHT OF THE BIBLE AND HISTORY  
Of What is the Religions Observance of a Day a  
Sign?  The religious observance of a day is a sign of obe- 
dience to the power requiring such observance. When  
Israel observed the feast command by Aaron in honor of the  
golden calf he had made, it was a sign of obedience to Aaron  
as well as a sign of idolatry, because it was dedicated to idol- 
worship. Ex. 32:1-6. And when Israel kept the fifteenth  
day of the the eighth month dedicated by Jeroboam to the  
worship of the golden calves he set up for worship, it was a  
sign of obedience to their king as well as of idolatry, I Kings  
12:28-38. This of course illustrates that the religious observ- 
ance of a day is a mark of obedience to the power requir- 
ing such observance.  
When we find people in our day devoting Friday to  
religious worship we say they are Mohammedans for the  
keeping of Friday is a sign of Mohammedanism. In like  
manner when people devote Sunday to rest and worship, it  
is a mark of obedience to that power who changed the Sab- 
bath to Sunday and that was papacy; for it was the papacy  
who compelled people to work on the Sabbath and to keep  
Sunday instead thereof. See par. 46-48.  
Of course there are a great many good Christians in  
our day who keep Sunday believing it to be of divine origin,  
but that does not change the fact that the so-called Sunday- 
Lord's day is only a human institution.  
Now on the other hand the observance of the Sabbath  
is a sign of obedience and loyalty to God.  
The Lord says: "I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a  
sign between me and them, that they might say that  I  am  
the Lord that sanctify them. -  "And hallow my sabbaths:  
and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may  
know that I am the Lord your God. -  Ezek. 20:12, 20.  
Which Shall We Choose? •  The Creator gave man  
Page 59


SABBATH, SUNDAY AND FRIDAY IN THE  
the seventh day of the week for rest and worship and to be  
a memorial of creation and to be observed as such as long  
creation exists. Isa. 66:22, 23. Long years after Christ, the  
Sabbath of the Lord was robbed of its sacredness by being  
made a working day, and Sunday appointed instead thereof.  
This was the first robber of the Sabbath. The second rob- 
ber of the Sabbath was the appointment of Friday for re- 
ligious worship; thus the Lord's holy Sabbath has thus been  
crucified between two robber Sabbaths—Friday and Sunday  
—both being only human institutions.  
The following blessings are pronounced upon all who  
will cease trampling upon God's holy Sabbath: "Blessed  
is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth  
hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and  
keepeth his hand from doing any evil." "If thou turn away  
thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thine own pleasure  
on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of  
the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor him, not doing thine  
own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure nor speaking  
thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;  
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the  
earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father;  
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. 56:2; 58;  
13, 14.  
Page  60  

Bible Doctrines  
B
IBLE DOCTRINES by Eld. 0. A.  
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Church History of the Walla Walla 
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This book is the result of many  
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references to many Scriptures bearing on the subject. It  
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Elder 0. A. Johnson, College Place, Wash.  
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Price of Bible Doctrines  
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