The Sabbath Cerimonial

[Montie_Claunch]

As some of you might now I am talking to a Saventh Day Adventist Pastor. Eventually the issue of the Sabbath will come up. Now from my gathering the day of the week that the day of rest is held on is ceramonial and therefore can be changed. How would you show a Seventh Day Adventist (Pastor) this? And what are some of the arguements that he would bring up and how do I respond? Thanks and God bless.

 

[batteddy]

Saturday is the Sabbath!

The Church never denied this, check the Catechism.

In the Latin liturgical Calendar, Saturday is called “Sabbato,” the Sabbath, and Sunday is called “Dominica,” the Lord’s Day.

The Church has always admitted, and you can check the catechism, that the Seventh Day is Saturday and that is the Sabbath, the last day of creation, the day of God’s rest.

But we believe that observance has been superceded by the “eighth day” of the New Creation in Jesus Christ. The Sabbath was fullfilled by Jesus’s rest in the tomb, and now we celebrate the “eighth day,” the Lord’s Day, the New Day, the New Beginning…Sunday.

 

[John_Taylor]

As some of you might now I am talking to a Seventh Day Adventist Pastor. Eventually the issue of the Sabbath will come up. Now from my gathering the day of the week that the day of rest is held on is ceremonial and therefore can be changed. How would you show a Seventh Day Adventist (Pastor) this? And what are some of the arguments that he would bring up and how do I respond? Thanks and God bless.

the “ceremonial” aspect of the Sabbath Command (that every “seventh day” should be observed as “a day of rest” for reflection on God’s goodness and mercy towards His People) can be demonstrated by proving that “Saturday” is not an intrinsic part of the command. To “rest on Saturday” is not a moral law “written on the heart of man” (see Romans 2:12-15).

To illustrate this I’ve used the following:

Imagine that you were flying solo over an ocean when your plane developed engine trouble and you were forced to crash land onto a deserted island. For several days - you don’t know for how many days - but for several days you were unconscious. When you regain consciousness you literally do not know which day of the week it is and you have no way to contact the outside world.

But you have your Bible!

With your Bible as your only guide, how will you know when “Saturday” arrives such that you may faithfully observe the Sabbath Command “on Saturday”?

We know from the “law written on the heart” that that it is wrong to lie, steal, murder, covet, ect…and from a consideration of creation we can know the existence of the Creator, and from a consideration of God we can “know in our hearts” that God is deserving of “public and regular” worship on the part of human society…so if our crashed SDA pilot should find on the island a village of primitive natives he will know what is morally required of him before God to keep free from sin…but if “Saturday” was in fact not a “ceremonial” aspect of the “Sabbath Command” but rather binding on us morally, then our crashed SDA pilot has “six chances in seven” of picking the wrong day on which to observe “the true Sabbath” and the same “one in seven” chance of “receiving the mark of the beast” by resting on “Sunday” as he does of getting it right by observing “Saturday”…and then, of course, if he should be so unlucky as to crash on an island in the Northernmost reaches of the earth (eg., Alaska) where determining a “Scriptural Day” from “sun down to sun down” is impossible for months at a time…the poor fellow is simply doomed to offend God IF Saturday" be an intrinsic part of the Sabbath Command.

Hope this helps

Keep the Faith
jmt

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

Here is a Catechism for Jewish Children on Ceremonial Law!

Appendix I

The Ceremonial Law

1. What is the Ceremonial Law?

The duties which the law of God as revealed through Moses demands of us, the Israelites, in particular, as the professors of its religion.

1. Upon what is this Law founded?

Upon the history of the Mosaic Religion, and of the people of Israel before and since the promulgation of the Ten Commandments from Sinai.

1. What is the object of the ceremonies?

The constant observance of the ceremonies is intended to remind us perpetually of the events upon which they are founded, and to cause their being handed over to our children after us, to the latest generations.

“Remember his miracles that He hath done, his wonders and the Judgments of his mouth. O ye seed of Israel, his servants; the children of Jacob, his chosen people. He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. Remember ye his covenant for ever; the word which He commanded to a thousand generations. Which He covenanted with Abraham, and likewise his oath unto Isaac. And he confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” Ps. cv. 5-10.

1. Which are the principal events of which the Ceremonial Law is to remind us?

The following three:

First, The Exodus, or removal, of our forefathers from Egypt.
Second, The Divine Revelation, and the promulgation of the Law on Sinai. Third, The destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, and of the kingdom of Israel.

5. What observances are to remind us of the Exodus?

First, The Sabbath day, regarded as the sign of the covenant of the manifestation of God’s power in Egypt.

“And remember that thou were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.” Deut. v. 15.

Second, Several others of the festivals.

1. Which are these festivals?

First, The Passover, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Secondly, The Feast of Tabernacles.

1. What is the Passover?

jewish-history.com/catechism/ceremonial.html

 

[adventistnomore]

Hi!

Well, a discussion about the Sabbath is going to be a long winding one to be sure, as Adventists are ready with countless counterarguments to every point we Catholics make on the subject. Keep updating us on every turn in your ongoing conversation with him–we’ll be glad to help you respond to every counterclaim.

That being said, I recommend a few short essays written from a Catholic perspective on the Sabbath. All are hosted on DiesDomini: diesdomini.com:

Catholic Primer on the Sabbath Commandment

Sabbath commandment as a Mosaic ordinance

Ignatius of Antioch on the Sabbath

The first one should especially help you to understand the basics of the Church’s teaching on the Sabbath–get this conversation rolling.

 

[apruett]

Monte,

You are correct that the 7th day Sabbath is ceremonial, but Adventists look at it differently. They hold to a dual law theory. The dual law theory in a nutshell is that the 10 commandments are God’s moral law and is unchanging, but that everything else written in the books of Moses are ceremonial in nature and not now necessary to keep.

This position is relatively easy to overcome. First, the dual law theory is not biblical. There was only one “book of the law” and it contained both moral and ceremonial aspects to the law. One only has to read some OT passages, let us say, like in Leviticus, to see that there is much morality taught outside the 10 Commandments. And they would not argue that these are to be discarded. Additionally, in practice, they also hold to the Jewish dietary laws, and are strict tithers, both of which are not contained in the 10 commandments.

Another way to overcome the argument is to have them really read Acts 15, which contains the first counsel of the Church. It is clear here, that the gentiles were never required to keep Jewish laws, and that was the decision of the Christian Church with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

You could also point to The Apostolic Fathers, like Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the Magnesians, where he states we are not to observe the 7th day Sabbath, as the Jews do. Your friend may dismiss this as an extra-biblical source, but it is none the less valid. Remind him that the letter was written in the first century, and that Ignatius lived in the time of Christ, was a disciple of the Apostle John, and appointed by Peter as Bishop of Antioch.

I hope this at least gets you started.

Peace,
apruett