plaisted@cs.unc.edu (David Plaisted) (06/11/91)
I was a way for a week, and just saw messages about the Sabbath and Seventh-day Adventist beliefs. However, I may have missed some of the discussion. At the risk of repetition, here are some more comments on the Sabbath issue, if this discussion is still open: Socrates and Sozomen, historians from about the fifth century, say that Christians everywhere keep the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) except at Rome, where this is not done. I think it was Ambrose in the fourth century who said, ``When in Rome, do as the Romans do.'' This is because he worshiped on Saturday elsewhere but on Sunday when in Rome. These two evidences suggest that Sunday keeping started in Rome, not Jerusalem. This also suggests that the early Christians kept the Sabbath, and possibly Sunday too. Wilkinson wrote a book called Truth Triumphant in which he examined many primary sources and found evidence for early Christian Sabbath keepers all over the world, many persisting for a thousand years or more after Christ. These groups were generally destroyed by persecution from the Roman Catholic church. One of the more well known such groups is the Waldenses of central Italy. There are a number of evidences that they kept the seventh day Sabbath until about the Protestant reformation. Wilkinson gives a number of evidences that they originated from the apostles or their immediate successors at about 140 AD. This was the position held by the Protestant reformers, who had contact with the Waldenses. Current scholars often state that the Waldenses began about 1140 with the preaching of Peter Waldo. But this ignores a number of significant evidences. John's statement that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day is significant. It shows that the Lord does have a day, and that all days are not alike. Scholars debate about which day John meant. But, from the Bible, Jesus said he was Lord of the Sabbath, and the fourth commandment says the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. This suggests that the Lord's day is the seventh day Sabbath, Saturday. Peter says the writings of Paul are hard to understand and warns the reader not to be carried away by the errors of lawless men (RSV). This suggests that even in Peter's day, some were improperly using Paul's writings to argue that the law was no longer binding on Christians. As for Seventh-day Adventist scholarship, there is excellent Adventist scholarship supporting our beliefs. However, the typical pastor or church member is not prepared to deal with scholarly objections. You may have to do a little digging to find the answers to scholarly objections to Adventist beliefs, but they do exist (such as the book by Wilkinson mentioned above). You may have to contact some organizations run by laymen. Dave Plaisted plaisted@cs.unc.edu