Apparently (we have no written detailed records available to us) the churches in Rome and Alexandria started it because the Christian communities were being confused with the Jews (since they both kept the Sabbath) in about 135 A.D. when the Jews had launched another revolt against Rome.
Being a stubborn Irish-German I would have been willing to die for principle expecting the good Lord to work something out. If not, then like the three Hebrew worthies I still would not have bowed the knee.
There are two well-known quote from Socrates’ Ecclesiastical History. I am sure most Adventists and those who have come across what they teach are familiar with them.
The first quote:
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"The people of Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week, which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria." - Socrates, "Ecclesiastical History," Book 7, chap.19.
And this:
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"For although almost all churches throughout The World celebrated the sacred mysteries (the Lord's Supper) on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, refuse to do this." - Socrates,
“Ecclestical History,” Book 5, chap. 22, p. 289.
This is used to pretend that all Christians, except those at Rome and Alexandria, kept the Sabbath.
But the context is conveniently left out.
The context of the latter passage is what follows.
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And among various nations there are other usages, for which innumerable reasons are assigned. Since however no one can produce a written command as an authority, it is evident that the apostles left each one to his own free will in the matter, to the end that each might perform what is good not by constraint or necessity. Such is the difference in the churches on the subject of fasts. Nor is there less variation in regard to religious assemblies. For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the sabbath of every week, yet the 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 Thebaïs, 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 evening making their offerings they partake of the mysteries.
So the passage is NOT telling us that all the Christians, except those at Rome and Alexandria, kept the Sabbath. It is telling us that the Christians believed that they were free to follow Romans 14:5-6, and worship God in spirit, not bound to a specific day. They chose to continue a custom (even called a custom by Socrates - see the bold underlined section in the first quote above) that came from their Jewish roots.
You will find many references like this that are used by Adventists to make it seem as if early Christians observed the Sabbath because they believed it was binding on them. But context always proves the Adventist claims wrong. In every case, what is really happening is that Christians continued with customs they inherited from the Jews, but knowing that their only purpose was to give God glory, and they could do that with any day.
Also notable is the fact that the first passage tells us that almost all Christians assembled together on Saturdays AND Sundays. The exceptions were Rome and Alexandria, which used only Sunday. So practically ALL Christians kept Sunday, and most, but fewer, kept Saturday. Sunday was universal - the Sabbath wasn’t. That’s not something your Adventist teachers will usually point out. And they will never tell you that the same historian records that they continued with the Sabbath of their own free will, and not because of any written command or authority. That would just defeat the purpose of providing this reference in a selective quote.
Also worth noting is that even today, Saturday is treated differently in most Catholic and Orthodox Churches. When Sunday-keeping Christians treated Saturday differently out of pious custom in the early centuries, it is paraded around by Adventists as supposed evidence that they kept the Sabbath like Jews and Adventists do. Yet when Sunday-keeping Christians today do the same thing, it’s conveniently ignored.
Isn’t that somewhat hypocritical?