[soc.religion.christian] Sabbath discussion

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