Church Authority and Sunday

[ralphinal]

this thread is to discuss ONE AND ONLY one example of Church Authority: Sunday worship instead of Saturday.

As Christ rose on Sunday, the Church always used that day to commemorate this event. Eventually, Temple worship by Christians ended, and the Church established Sunday as the Holy Day.

Did they have the authority to do so?

 

[Robbinson]

this thread is to discuss ONE AND ONLY one example of Church Authority: Sunday worship instead of Saturday.

As Christ rose on Sunday, the Church always used that day to commemorate this event. Eventually, Temple worship by Christians ended, and the Church established Sunday as the Holy Day.

Did they have the authority to do so?

Absolutely. The Church did not move the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday (a common misconception). The Sabbath remains Saturday - however Jesus has fulfilled the Sabbath (see Hebrews - our rest is fulfilled in Christ).

Sunday then became a day, early in the Church years of fellowship among Christians in commemoration of the resurrection and became known as the Lord’s day and a day of worship and celebration of the Eucharist- but it is not the Sabbath.

There are some Protestant denominations who call sunday the Sabbath and some (name removed by moderator)ort mosaic law type restrictions mandating absence from work, etc.

Blessings,

Brian

 

[Publisher]

The Church, those bought with a great price, those called out ones from among the nations to be a holy priesthood, those redeemed by the work of Christ, His blood bought Body of believers didn’t change the day of worship…it was their collective understanding that they were God’s New Creation, they lived their lives in celebration of the eschatological First Day of the Kingdom of God that was established among them. Christ was the First Fruits. The Father prepared Him to become the Sabbath Rest for the People of God…We live as an expectant people of the First Day of the New Creation…that is why we meet on First Day…not becasue the Church “changed it”…but it simply Became our witness of New Life. Each day is now our Rest in Him.

 

[Rightlydivide]

While those that fear God (Acts 13:16) worshipped with the Jews, Gentiles were never bound by the Sabbath. Thus the fundamental premise of the question is not biblical.
Sunday is not a “holy day”. Christians and Catholics both go to church on Saturday in many locations.

 

[ralphinal]

All of these posts were excellent. Very insightful to all.

I do wish the vote against the Church using Sunday as the day of Worship would explain why they feel that way. Unless it was one of you guys who already posted

 

[gcnuss]

this thread is to discuss ONE AND ONLY one example of Church Authority: Sunday worship instead of Saturday.

As Christ rose on Sunday, the Church always used that day to commemorate this event. Eventually, Temple worship by Christians ended, and the Church established Sunday as the Holy Day.

Did they have the authority to do so?

I voted “yes” although I am not certain that it is a matter of authority. As noted above, Christian worship has been centered on the Resurrection, the event that carries with it the promise of eternal life, the fulfillment of God’s plan for our salvation. I would posit that celebration of the Resurrection is the celebration of the completion of a new creation, our life in Christ.

The notion of the Sabbath, on the other hand, comes from the creation story where God rested on the seventh day, having spent six days completing the work of creation. If we follow the Jewish concept of the Sabbath it is, according to tradition, the last day of the week, obeying the commandment in Exodus 20:8-11.

Remember the Sabbath day, to make it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, and the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH, your God. You shall not do any work: you and your son and your daughter, your servant and your maid and your animal and your alien who is in your gates. Because for six day YHWH made the skies and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. On account of this, YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

(From Commentary on the Torah: With a New English Translation and the Hebrew Text by Richard Elliott Friedman)

In many ways, the adoption of Sunday as the Sabbath by the Christian community continued the traditions of the Jewish Sabbath. Church authority governed what the faithful (and even the non-Christian) could do on Sunday. Many Christians abstained from all work and, even, from things that might be considered pleasurable on Sunday, believing that the only permitted activities were associated with prayer and worship. Here in the US, the Puritan tradition held sway for many years, witness the extensive “Blue Laws” that regulated commercial activities. I can recall when it was virtually impossible to find a store of any kind open on Sunday.

These are a few thoughts.