18
store
all
things
to
their
primitive
practice,
as
Tertullian
teach-
eth
in
Monogamia,
kept
holy
the
Sabbath,
and
had
their
assem-
blies
on
that
day,
in
which
the
law
was
read
to
them,
as
ap-
pears
in
Acts
xv,
21,
which
custom
remained
till
the
time
of
the
council
of
Laodicea,
about
a.
».
365,
who
then
thought
mect
that
the
gospels
also
should
be
read
on
that
day.”
Edward
Brerewood,
Professor
in
Gresham
College,
London,
in
a
treatise
on
the
Sabbath,
1630,
says,:
“It
is
commonly
be-
lieved
that
the
Jewish
Sabbath
was
changed
into
the
Lord's
Day
by
Christian
emperors,
and
they
know
little
who
do
not
know,
that
the
ancient
Sabbath
did
remain
and
was
observed
by
the
eus-
tern
churches
three
hundred
years
aficr
our
Saviour’s
passion.”
TESTIMONY
FOR
THE
FIRST
DAY
EXAMINED.
At
what
time
the
first
day
of
the
week
came
into
notice
as
a
festival
in
the
church,
it
is
not
easy
to
determine.
The
first
inti-
mation
we
have
of
this,
in
any
ancient
writer
of
acknowledged
in-
tegrity,
is
from
Justin
Martyr's
Apology
for
the
Christians,
about
A.D.
140.
He
is
cited
as
saying,
“that
the
Christians
in
the
city
and
in
the
country
assembled
on
the
day
called
Sunday;
and
after
certain
religious
devotions,
all
returned
home
to
their
la-
bors;”
and
he
assigns
as
reasons
for
this,
that
God
made
the
world
on
the
first
day;
and,
that
Christ
first
showed
himself
to
his
disciples
on
that
day,
after
his
resurrection.
These
were
the
best,
and
probably
all
the
reasons
that
could
then
be
offer-
ed
for
the
practice.
He
also
speaks
of
Sunday
only
as
a
festi-
val,
on
which
they
performed
labor,
when
not
engaged
in
devo-
tions;
and
not
as
a
substitute
for
the
Sabbath.
From
this
au-
thor
we
can
learn
nothing
as
to
the
extent
of
the
practice;
for
though
he
says
this
was
done
by
those
“in
the
city
and
in
the
country,”
he
may
have
intended
only
the
city
of
Rome
and
its
suburbs,
since
Justin,
although
a
native
of
Palestine,
in
Syr-
ia,
is
stated
by
Eusebius
to
have
made
his
residence
in
Rome.
Nor
can
we
determine
from
this,
that
he
intended
any
thing
more,
than
that
they
did
thus
on
the
Sunday
in
which
the
church
of
Rome,
a
short
time
after
this,
is
known
to
have
closed
the
pas-
chal
feast,
which
was
observed
annually.
It
is
contended,
however,
that
mention
is
made
of
keeping
the
first
day
previous
to
Justin.
The
first
intimation
of
this
kind,
it
is
believed,
is
from
an
apocryphal
writing,
styled
the
Epistle
of
Bar-
nabas.
But
to
this
epistle
it
is
objected,
that
there
is
no
evidence
of
its
genuineness.
Eusebius,
who
lived
near
the
time
when
it
was
written,
mentions
it
as
a
spurious
writing,
entitled
to
no
cre-
dit.
Dr.
Milnor
says
it
is
an
injury
to
St.
Barnabas,
to
ascribe
this
epistle
to
him.
Moshelmn
says
it
is
the
work
of
some
super-
19
stitious
Jew
of
mean
abilities.
And
we
think
it
has
but
little
to
recommend
it
besides
its
antiquity.
Barnabas’
theory
for
ob-
serving
the
first
day,
rests
upon
the
tradition
that
the
seventh
day
was
typical
of
the
seventh
millennium
of
the
age
of
the
world,
which
would
be
purely
a
holy
age
;
and
that
the
Sabbath
was
not
to
be
kept
until
that
time
arrived;
and
he
says,
«
We.
keep
the
eighth
day
with
gladness,
in
which
Jesus
arose
from
the
dead.”
The
citations
from
Ignatius,
are
as
little
to
the
purpose.
In
the
passage
of
which
most
use
has
been
made,
he
did
not
say
that
himself
or
any
one
else
kept
the
Lord's
day,
as
is
often
as-
serted.
His
own
words
are,
that
“the
prophets
who
lived
be-
fore
Christ,
came
to
a
newness
of
hope,
not
by
keeping
Sabbaths,
but
by
living
according
to
a
lordly
or
most
excellent
life.
In
this
passage,
Ignatius
was
speaking
of
altogether
a
different
thing
from
Sabbath-keeping.
There
is
another
quotation
from
him,
however,
in
which
he
brings
out
more
clearly
his
view
of
the
re-
lation
existing
between
the
Sabbath
and
Lord's
day.
It
is
as
fol-
lows:
“Let
us
not
keep
the
Sabbath
in
a
Jewish
manner,
in
sloth
and
idleness.
But
let
us
keep
it
after
a
spiritual
manner,
not
in
bodily
ease,
but
in
the
study
of
the
law,
and
in
the
contemplation
of
the
works
of
God.”
“And
after
we
have
kept
the
Sabbath,
let
every
one
that
loveth
Christ
keep
the
Lord's
day
festival.”—
From
this
it
seems
that
he
would
have
the
Sabbath
kept
first,
as
such,
and
in
a
manner
satisfactory
to
the
strictest
Sabbatarian,
after
which
the
Lord's
day,
not
as
a
Sabbath,
but
as
a
festival,
Indeed
with
this
distinction
between
the
Sabbath
and
a
festival
before
us,
it
is
easy
to
explain
all
those
passages
from
early
histo-
rians
which
refer
to
the
first
day.
We
shall
find
them
to
be
either
immediately
connected
with
instructions
about
such
sea-
sons
as
Good
Friday
and
Holy
Thursday,
or
in
the
writings
of
those
who
have
recommended
the
observance
of
these
festi-
val
days.
It
is
also
said
that
Pliny,
Governor
of
Bithynia,
in
A.
p.
102,
in
a
letter
to
Trajan,
states
that
the
Christians
met
on
the
first
day
of
the
week
for
worship;
but
by
no
fair
interpretation
of
his
words
can
he
be
so
understood.
He
says,
in
writing
about
those
of
his
own
province,
“that
they
were
accustomed
to
assemble
on
a
stated
day.”
This
might
be
referred
to
the
first
day,
if
there
were
credible
testimony
that
this
day
was
alone
regarded
by
Christians
at
that
time;
but
as
there
is
no
evidence
of
this,
and
as
the
Sabbath
is
known
to
have
been
the
stated
day
of
religious
assembling
a
long
time
after
this,
it
seems
more
proper
to
refer
it
to
the
Sabbath
than
to
the
first
day.
We
will
mention
but
one
more
of
these
misinterpreted
cit