Is it a sin for protestants to skip church on Sundays and why do they feel it is okay.

[SSTeacher]

SSTeacher;6600289:

By no means was it intended to be a trick question. I asked if my understanding of Catholic teaching was right not whether my knowledge of what individual Catholics might believe or claim was correct. What individual Catholics might believe or claim is, as I’ve discovered, not necessarily the same thing as what the Catholic Church teaches.

My question is related to the Original Post. My thought is the reality may possibly be that many Catholics go to Mass on Sunday only because they are obligated to do so. Indeed, if the Catholic Church has made breaking that particular commandment a mortal sin with all that such entails then it seems not unreasonable to suppose that some Catholics may go to Mass on Sunday motivated only by fear of going to hell. So if all Catholics were to be released from that particular obligation it seems not unlikely that there would necessarily be fewer Masses on Sundays in every Catholic parish throughout the world and that the attitude outside Catholicism, which the Original Poster currently finds dumbfounding, would quickly become the norm inside Catholicism.

I guess I should clarify. The part I find dumbfounding is why if you are in a relationship with God why would breaking one of the ten commandments, rules He gave, not be considered wrong or a sin.

One possible Evangelical SOLO Scriptura response might be that the commandment to which you’re referring is found in the Old Testament and it enjoins the Jews to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Question: What does “keeping the Sabbath day holy” mean in practice for Christians?

And then I would wonder if it is okay to break that commandment, where does it stop.

I can assure you that no disrespect is intended. It is simply a different way of looking at the biblical injunctions. Sincere Evangelical Christians definitely do not wander around saying, “Hey, I break any commandments I feel like breaking as and when I feel like it.” They are caricatured in this way, of course, and that’s unfortunate.

I mean which commandments are okay to break and which ones are not.

None of them are “okay to break.” This is a wrongheaded idea that is based upon a false caricature of Evangelicals.

Who sets down the guidelines.

The sincere Evangelical Christian gradually drops his or her worldly habits and aims to become as Christlike as possible according to the lights given to him or her by the Holy Spirit. Evangelicals do not usually assume that the Holy Spirit is going to focus upon doctrine. Rather, they will probably expect the Holy Spirit to produce in them good fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self–control.

If it is scripture alone then I go back to why can some scripture be ignored and others not.

Scripture is not being ignored. It is all being interpreted.

Some of the answers here in regards to missing church for relaxation and sports are it would be very serious not to attend church and others are it’s not so bad to it’s okay.

Indeed.

Sometimes when I ask protestants questions I get so many different answers it makes me so confused it makes my head swim.

It’s pretty much the same story for Non–Catholics that try to get answers from Catholics.

I’m thinking this is definitely why Jesus gave us the Catholic Church because we need someone to interpret Scripture for us and set down the guidelines to eliminate all this confusion.

But isn’t the Catholic Church full of confusion? Aren’t there Catholics who believe abortion is OK and other Catholics who believe that it isn’t? Aren’t there some Catholics who believe priests ought to be able to marry and other Catholics who believe priests ought to remain celibate? Aren’t there some Catholics who believe Mass should be celebrated only in Latin and other Catholics who believe it should be celebrated only in the vernacular? Aren’t there Liberal Catholics and Charismatic Catholics and Traditionalist Catholics and Ultratraditionalist Catholics all claiming to be part of the Catholic Church yet all disagreeing with each other and all claiming that they are right? Aren’t there a myriad of different Catholic opinions about just as many issues? Sure, there are.

By comparison, the Non–Catholic world is calm and peaceful. Evangelicals, Methodists, Presbyterians, Nazarenes, Pentecostals, and even Lutherans , together with all the other denominations are not at war with each other in this way. They have settled their doctrinal and lifestyle differences. They know what they believe and why they believe it and they are therefore in a position to agree to differ in some of their doctrines. They are certainly not constantly arguing and bickering with each other as Catholics sometimes portray them to be so doing.

Think of Saint Paul’s plea to Euodia and Syntyche to “agree with each other in the Lord” and reflect upon what such agreement between different Christian groups might look like. If you try to adopt this perspective you’ll perhaps be able to appreciate that the real picture is different from the one that some have painted for themselves in their imaginations and then sought to promote in their utterances.

Ecumenically,
Mick

 

[Bluegoat]

In my opinion it is a sin, the 4th commandment- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Do the protestants not believe in the Ten Commandments? I rest my case.

This is pretty general though. One could take it to mean we should observe the Sabbath like Jews.

As far as the original question goes, I think that one factor is that most Protestants tend to see the relative sinfulness of an act as being hard to pin down in a general way. So a particular sin might be very bad in one person’s case, and not that significant in another. That’s why they tend not to talk about venial and mortal sin - in many cases a sin could be either, depending on those circumstances.

Individuals are given a certain amount of responsibility in this aspect of their relationship with God. They have to look clearly at their own actions and present them to God, or seek help from a pastor of some kind if they are having trouble.

Overall though there seem to be many people, Catholic and Protestant, who think that their kids hockey game is more important than going to Church on Sunday.

 

[TriuneUnity]

One possible Evangelical SOLO Scriptura response might be that the commandment to which you’re referring is found in the Old Testament and it enjoins the Jews to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Question: What does “keeping the Sabbath day holy” mean in practice for Christians?

I can assure you that no disrespect is intended. It is simply a different way of looking at the biblical injunctions. Sincere Evangelical Christians definitely do not wander around saying, “Hey, I break any commandments I feel like breaking as and when I feel like it.” They are caricatured in this way, of course, and that’s unfortunate.

None of them are “okay to break.” This is a wrongheaded idea that is based upon a false caricature of Evangelicals.

The sincere Evangelical Christian gradually drops his or her worldly habits and aims to become as Christlike as possible according to the lights given to him or her by the Holy Spirit. Evangelicals do not usually assume that the Holy Spirit is going to focus upon doctrine. Rather, they will probably expect the Holy Spirit to produce in them good fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self–control.

Scripture is not being ignored. It is all being interpreted.

Indeed.

It’s pretty much the same story for Non–Catholics that try to get answers from Catholics.

But isn’t the Catholic Church full of confusion? Aren’t there Catholics who believe abortion is OK and other Catholics who believe that it isn’t? Aren’t there some Catholics who believe priests ought to be able to marry and other Catholics who believe priests ought to remain celibate? Aren’t there some Catholics who believe Mass should be celebrated only in Latin and other Catholics who believe it should be celebrated only in the vernacular? Aren’t there Liberal Catholics and Charismatic Catholics and Traditionalist Catholics and Ultratraditionalist Catholics all claiming to be part of the Catholic Church yet all disagreeing with each other and all claiming that they are right? Aren’t there a myriad of different Catholic opinions about just as many issues? Sure, there are.

By comparison, the Non–Catholic world is calm and peaceful. Evangelicals, Methodists, Presbyterians, Nazarenes, Pentecostals, and even Lutherans , together with all the other denominations are not at war with each other in this way. They have settled their doctrinal and lifestyle differences. They know what they believe and why they believe it and they are therefore in a position to agree to differ in some of their doctrines. They are certainly not constantly arguing and bickering with each other as Catholics sometimes portray them to be so doing.

Think of Saint Paul’s plea to Euodia and Syntyche to “agree with each other in the Lord” and reflect upon what such agreement between different Christian groups might look like. If you try to adopt this perspective you’ll perhaps be able to appreciate that the real picture is different from the one that some have painted for themselves in their imaginations and then sought to promote in their utterances.

Ecumenically,
Mick

And all of the above is exactly the reason why we should have remained in the British Empire, folks.

 

[eureka525]

In my church (Presbyterian) it was never called a “sin” to miss church but we were “strongly encouraged” to have regular attendance and to participate in other Bible studies, etc. throughout the week. And actually, come Easter time and Christmas time, when we have so many ‘extra’ churchgoers all of a sudden, our minister usually slips in a comment or two in his sermons about those ‘twice-a-year’ churchgoers and that they should ask themselves whether they are truly devoted to God and how they can be better Christians.

That being said, my mother is one of those “Well I work hard all week, Sunday is my only day off so I’m sleeping in and staying home” types. She says it’s ‘okay’ because sometimes she watches a church service on t.v. instead… Okay, I can understand that if you’re sick or invalid or otherwise physically incapable of going to a service, but beyond that…

For me, I stopped regularly attending services when I was in college and away from my regular church. I was never taught that it was a sin NOT to attend and rather prayed from home. Unfortunately, this time in my life also coincided with the time that my father passed away and I did not have the church in my life. My faith was GREATLY shaken and truthfully, I don’t think it has yet fully recovered since then even though I now again regularly attend services and participate in church activities. I think if I had been faithfully attending church during that time things would have been ‘easier’ perhaps?

Anyway, that was a long way of saying that no, we weren’t taught that not attending church is a sin. I think rather we were taught to reach our own conclusions that not attending church does NOT fulfill our obligation to God and that we should decide for ourselves that church attendance is in fact an integral part of our faith and shouldn’t be treated lightly.

Do the majority of Catholics keep the Sabbath as only a day of worship? Is this required by doctrine? Or do more people usually go to mass and then do whatever else with the rest of their day? Just curious.

 

[SSTeacher]

And all of the above is exactly the reason why we should have remained in the British Empire, folks.

Who’s “we”? I never turned away.

Patriotically,
Mick

 

[Izdaari]

I attend church every Sunday, with rare exceptions. If I have to miss it, I have to. I may feel bad about missing it, but that’s because I’m forgoing a positive benefit, not because missing it is a sin. I have no particular list of virtues to cultivate or sins to avoid, other than Jesus’ two greatest commandments (love God, love your neighbor).

 

[JustaServant]

Jesus said: ‘where two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.’ In the company of other Christians, we lay hold of the Lord and His abiding presence. The Church is not made up of isolated individuals, but members of the mystical body of Christ Himself. Paul said we are “members one to another”. It is in corporate worship that this is seen the greatest.
Today people think that missing church hurts nobody but themselves. But in the early church, they thought quite the opposite. Separation from fellowship meant separation from the Body of Christ. Without each one’s participation, that Body was dismembered of a necessary limb, unity is broken.
An early church manual said “Since you are the members of Christ, do not scatter yourselves from the Church by not assembling. For since you have Christ for your head, as He promised, do not be neglectful of yourselves nor deprive the Savior of His members, nor rend and scatter His Body”. People who were absent due to no fault of their own were brought the Communion elements by others.
People who selfishly judge public worship by ‘I got nothing out it’ do not think of what they can put into it out of selflessness.

 

[Publisher]

In my opinion it is a sin, the 4th commandment- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Do the protestants not believe in the Ten Commandments? I rest my case.

And yet many Protestants and Catholics go out after church and patronize established businesses and engage in “buying and selling” on Sunday. Protestants and Catholics watch TV and go to movies…“buying and selling” and think nothing of it…but the above too is breaking the 4th commandment and “remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”…Do Catholics think that the only thing to “keep it holy” is going to church? What about those businesses they patronize and force those who would welcome a day to go to church with their families but have to serve at their place of business because Christians go to restaurants…or movies…or sports events…or partake in secular entertainment…is that keeping the “Sabbath day holy”?

 

[blazerdave]

Who’s “we”? I never turned away.

Patriotically,
Mick

To answer the OP, I must avoid my usual bravado and respond with the uncertainties and shades of gray (or “grey” if you’re in the British Empire) that I’ve come to love about this forum.

Skipping church on Sunday, without any good reason, is probably a sin. I tend to think that it is. It is certainly a sin to maintain an attitude which says, “Sorry God, you’re not really a big deal to me this week. Maybe you’ll be a bigger deal next week, but I sorta doubt it.” And no matter what Christian tradition you are from, I hope that we can all agree that intentionally missing out on preaching or Sacraments or celebration of the Resurrection is a sin of omission, and a most grievous one at that!

 

[TriuneUnity]

One possible Evangelical SOLO Scriptura response might be that the commandment to which you’re referring is found in the Old Testament and it enjoins the Jews to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Question: What does “keeping the Sabbath day holy” mean in practice for Christians?

I think this is part of the problem with the discussion of church on Sunday as connected with the Old Testament Sabbath regulations. Most of the arguments that the Jewish Saturday Sabbath was replaced by the Christian Sunday Sabbath are deeply flawed and directly contradicted by Scripture. I am pretty sure that Catholicism uses this argument, but so do many other Protestant denominations, especially of the Reformed variety.

The fact of the matter is that the Sabbath regulations are null and void in a Christian context. To expect Christians to behave toward the Sabbath as the OT Jews did, is binding the conscience in opposition to the fullness of the Sabbath rest that we have in Christ.

 

[Loboto-Me]

Jesus resurrected on a Sunday, therefore Jesus being the new Sabbath that now keep.

 

[Publisher]

Jesus resurrected on a Sunday, therefore Jesus being the new Sabbath that now keep.

First Day (Sunday) is not the “new sabbath” but the first day of the New Creation…Christ Himself is our Sabbath Rest…not a day…or a feast…but Christ Himself.

 

[TriuneUnity]

First Day (Sunday) is not the “new sabbath” but the first day of the New Creation…Christ Himself is our Sabbath Rest…not a day…or a feast…but Christ Himself.

Amen, brother.

 

[Loboto-Me]

The commandment is to “Keep the Sabbath DAY holy” . The new sabbath day is Sunday because Jesus resurrected on a sunday… he became our Sabbath, but the DAY we literally keep holy is Sunday in keeping with His resurrection.

 

[TriuneUnity]

The commandment is to “Keep the Sabbath DAY holy” . The new sabbath day is Sunday because Jesus resurrected on a sunday… he became our Sabbath, but the DAY we literally keep holy is Sunday in keeping with His resurrection.

Okay, I understand this to be your position. Can you demonstrate where Sunday is the new Sabbath day that we are to keep holy?

 

[Publisher]

The commandment is to “Keep the Sabbath DAY holy” . The new sabbath day is Sunday because Jesus resurrected on a sunday… he became our Sabbath, but the DAY we literally keep holy is Sunday in keeping with His resurrection.

How do you keep it holy? By going to church…by preparing your food the night before so as not to labor? By not engaging in any “worldly” activity? By not reading any secular publications? By not “buying and selling”?

Every day is now holy…not one day above another…but every day…we now live in the eschatological First Day of the New Creation…the sabbath of the seventh day is fulfilled in Christ…what does Paul say about “sabbaths and feasts”? Each day is as holy and sacred as the one before it and the one after it.

 

[crazzeto]

Okay, I understand this to be your position. Can you demonstrate where Sunday is the new Sabbath day that we are to keep holy?

For openers:

KJV

(Heb 10:22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

(Heb 10:23) Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised

(Heb 10:24) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

(Heb 10:25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

(Heb 10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

(Heb 10:27) But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

 

[SSTeacher]

SSTeacher;6601489:

Who’s “we”? I never turned away.

Patriotically,
Mick

To answer the OP, I must avoid my usual bravado and respond with the uncertainties and shades of gray (or “grey” if you’re in the British Empire) that I’ve come to love about this forum.

So nice to see! I find the Queen’s English so much easier on the eye when the Queen’s spelling is correctly employed.

Skipping church on Sunday, without any good reason, is probably a sin. I tend to think that it is. It is certainly a sin to maintain an attitude which says, “Sorry God, you’re not really a big deal to me this week. Maybe you’ll be a bigger deal next week, but I sorta doubt it.” And no matter what Christian tradition you are from, I hope that we can all agree that intentionally missing out on preaching or Sacraments or celebration of the Resurrection is a sin of omission, and a most grievous one at that!

But the Original Poster is contending with SOLO Scriptura and Wesleyan Quadrilateral mindsets. People who have this approach do not have any mechanism for looking outside themselves. So enters the human capacity for self–deception. When I was an SOLO Scriptura Evangelical I generally accepted counsel or advice mainly in theory. I’d nod approvingly during Sunday school and small group sessions and during the homily but the personal life application was rarely immediate. That’s the problem here, I think.

Speculatively,
Mick

 

[SSTeacher]

SSTeacher;6601343:

One possible Evangelical SOLO Scriptura

response might be that the commandment to which you’re referring is found in the Old Testament and it enjoins the Jews to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Question: What does “keeping the Sabbath day holy” mean in practice for Christians? I think this is part of the problem with the discussion of church on Sunday as connected with the Old Testament Sabbath regulations. Most of the arguments that the Jewish Saturday Sabbath was replaced by the Christian Sunday Sabbath are deeply flawed and directly contradicted by Scripture. I am pretty sure that Catholicism uses this argument, but so do many other Protestant denominations, especially of the Reformed variety.

Canon 29 of the Synod of Laodicea seems to endorse your thought:

Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.

I don’t think the Seventh Day Baptists or the Seventh Day Adventists are entirely happy with the above.

The fact of the matter is that the Sabbath regulations are null and void in a Christian context. To expect Christians to behave toward the Sabbath as the OT Jews did, is binding the conscience in opposition to the fullness of the Sabbath rest that we have in Christ.

The Catholic Church has made attendance at Sunday Mass an obligation so serious that non–attendance could well place the absent Catholic in a state of mortal sin. I daresay many in Christendom would view that as legalism – or, at least, not far from it. On the other hand, Evangelical Christians that embrace SOLO Scriptura are probably close to antinomianism, which is perhaps equally undesirable.

How can a balance be struck?

Perplexedly,
Mick

 

[crazzeto]

Apistolic Canons C. 400AD

UPON WHICH DAYS SERVANTS ARE NOT TO WORK.
XXXIII. I Peter and Paul do make the following constitutions. Let the slaves work five days; but on the Sabbath-day and the Lord’s day let them have leisure to go to church for instruction in piety. We have said that the Sabbath is on account of the creation, and the Lord’s day of the resurrection. Let slaves rest from their work all the great week, and that which follows it–for the one in memory of the passion, and the other of the resurrection;

Thus it is proper for us to rest on both days… In Peter’s day it would have been proper for us to be in worship on Both days as both Temple worship on Saturday and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper on the Lord’s day were both obligitory for the Christian.

As time has gone on (and we were kicked out of Jewish temples) both of these were merged into the same day, the Lord’s Day.