‘Remember’ is the first word of the fourth commandment. It tells us to remember that six days we are to labour and do all our work, but the seventh-day is to the Sabbath. We are asked to keep it holy.
Then why do most Christians keep the first day of the week, Sunday, as their holy day of worship? Who changed the Sabbath day?
Were the Early Christians the Ones Who Changed the Sabbath Day?
No. The early, apostolic church continued with keeping the seventh-day holy (the day we call Saturday) as evidenced by these Bible passages:
When Paul and his associates “departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down”. (Acts 13:14)
After preaching to the Jews in the synagogue in Antioch:
“the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath”. (Acts 13:42)
“On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God” (Acts 13:43)
(If the Sabbath were meant to be for the Jews only, and Sunday were meant to be for the new Christian church, it would have been expedient for Paul to suggest to the ‘whole city’ of Gentiles that he would meet with them on Sunday and not the ‘Jewish’ Sabbath. However, he did not.)
Paul discovers some Gentiles worshipping on the seventh-day Sabbath outside the city of Thyatira.
Acts 16:13-14 says,
“And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God”.
(If Sunday was meant for the Christian church, why were Lydia (a non-Jew) and her friends worshiping on the seventh-day Sabbath? If they were doing it in error, why did Paul not see fit to correct them on this?)
Acts 17:2 tells us
“Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures”.
(It was Paul’s custom to reason with them on the Sabbath. As a founding father of the Christian church, he should have set a better example if Christ had changed the day of worship to Sunday.)
Paul “reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:4)
(Once again, why didn’t he establish a new practice of Sunday worship with the Greeks if the Sabbath was for the Jews?)
Was It Later Christians Who Changed the Sabbath Day?
Historical records indicate that Christians continued to worship on the seventh-day Sabbath in the first few centuries. After all, God “made it for man” from the beginning of time (Mark 2:27, emphasis supplied), not just for the Jews. Some of the records of this fact include:
“The primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Sabbath, and spent the day in devotion and sermons. And it is not to be doubted but they derived this practice from the apostles themselves, as appears by several Scriptures to that purpose”.¹
“The gentile Christians observed also the Sabbath”.²
“The ancient Christians were very careful in the observation of Saturday, or the seventh day. It is plain that all the Oriental churches, and the greatest part of the world, observed the Sabbath as a festival. Athanasius tells us that they held religious assemblies on the Sabbath, not because they were infected with Judaism, but to worship Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. Epiphanius says the same”.³
Constantine Changed the Sabbath Day
Sadly, the change in the Sabbath day was instituted into the mainstream Christian church in the early 300s AD. Who changed the Sabbath day? Constantine, the Emperor of Rome.
At that time, the Roman Empire’s official deity was Sol Invictus (the ‘Unconquered Sun’). Sunday was the official day of the Sun god, and Christians were persecuted for being different by worshipping on Sabbath (what we now call Saturday) and not partaking in the worship of Sol Invictus.
However, Constantine desired to unite his empire, so he ended the persecution of Christians, gave lavish donations to the church in Rome and became embroiled in church affairs.
Constantine then professed conversion to Christianity in 312 A.D. Yet, his life did not display a change in heart.
During his lifetime, Constantine murdered his son Crispus, his wife Fausta, his close friend Sopater and, it is believed, a long list of other associates.⁴
On March 3, AD 321, Constantine decreed the first day of the week as the venerable day of the sun. “Sunday” became the day of rest for all of Rome. He remained a worshiper of Sol Invictus despite his supposed earlier conversion to Christianity.
The triumphal arch, made in honour of his victory in 312 A.D., had three statuettes of Sol Invictus. When it was completed in 315 A.D., the arch was aligned in such a way that, as you took the main approach to it, you would see through the central arch to a colossal statue of the sun god near the Colosseum.
Moreover, he had the image of the sun god engraved on the currency of the day until at least 325 A.D.
Making Sunday a day of rest for spiritual reasons was due to Constantine’s pagan beliefs. However, because this regulation was made by a so-called ‘Christian’ emperor, it paved the way for new, unbiblical, teachings to be adopted by the church at the Council of Laodicea in 364 AD.
At this council the leaders of the church declared Sunday to be the Lord’s Day and said:
“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday (Sabbath), but shall work on that Day: but the Lord’s Day [Sunday], they shall especially honour; and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ”.⁵
This statement shows that there were still Sabbath keepers amongst the Christians. However, it was no longer tolerated by the leaders of the Roman church. They wanted allegiance to their beliefs that were contrary to the Bible.
The Roman Catholic Church and Its Authority
The Roman Catholic Church believed that God had bestowed a God-given authority on them that superseded the Bible and thus they were at liberty to make their own laws.⁶
Through the centuries, Sunday worship was not only promoted by the Roman Catholic church, but eventually by most of the denominations which were supposedly its dissenters: the Protestant churches.
Reflecting on the role of the Roman Catholic Church in changing the day of worship from Saturday (Sabbath) to Sunday, the Bishop of London wrote this in 1923:
“On Protestant principles there is no possible explanation of the substitution of the Christian Sunday for the Jewish Sabbath; for this plain abrogation of the express commandment of God as recorded in the Bible. Protestants reject Divine Tradition, the Unwritten Word, which Catholics accept as of equal authority with the Written Word, the Bible. The Divine authority given by Christ to the Church to teach in His name, to bind and to loose, Protestants deny. For them—and it is their boast—the Bible and the Bible alone has Divine authority. Now in the matter of Sabbath Observance the Protestant rule of Faith is utterly unable to explain the substitution of the Christian Sunday for the Jewish Saturday. It has been changed. The Bible still teaches that the Sabbath or Saturday should be kept holy. There is no authority in the New Testament for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday. Surely it is an important matter. It’s there in the Bible as one of the Ten Commandments of God. There is no authority in the Bible for abrogating this Commandment, or for transferring its observance to another day of the week.
For Catholics there is not the slightest difficulty. “All power is given Me in heaven and on earth; as the Father sent Me so I also send you,” said our Divine Lord in giving His tremendous commission to His Apostles. “He that heareth you heareth Me”. We have in the authoritative voice of the Church the voice of Christ Himself. The Church is above the Bible; and this transference of Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday is proof positive of that fact. Deny the authority of the Church and you have no adequate or reasonable explanation or justification for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday in the Third—Protestant Fourth— Commandment of God.
Thus, by that same Divine authority, in virtue of which she did away with the Jewish Sabbath and substituted therefore the Christian Sunday, the Catholic Church legislated as to how the Lord’s Day should be observed”.⁶
The Bible Alone Has No Record of the Change
Not one Protestant church can point to any written injunction in Scripture demonstrating that God changed His Ten Commandments from worship on the seventh day to worship on the first day.⁷ There is not even a recommendation from the apostles that it should be so.
Most modern-day Christians are a day late in setting aside a day of worship of the Lord, and most don’t even realise this.
A Prophecy Fulfilled: Changing Times and Laws
Daniel the prophet (who lived in the fifth century before Christ) had identified that there would be a religio-political power that would:
“speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws” (Daniel 7:25, italics supplied).
This identified ahead of time who would change the Sabbath day.
Daniel’s prophecy was a direct reference to the Roman Catholic church and their insidious plan to incorporate pagan Sun worship into Christianity, to replace the Divine-human relationship between God and us.
The Real Issue: Worship of the Creator or the Created?
Sunday (the first day of the week) versus Saturday (the seventh day of the week) is not only about time; it is juxtaposing the worship of the created (Sunday—made holy by man) with the Creator (Saturday Sabbath—made holy by God).
Paul talks of those,
“Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever… And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgement of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them”. (Romans 1:25, 28–32)
To worship on Sunday is arriving too late for an appointment to spend quality time with the most important Being in the universe when He has also chosen to rest (Genesis 2:1–3)!
Furthermore, whether we like it or not, when we decide to place ourselves in God’s position to try and make something holy, we are opening ourselves up to all kinds of wickedness.
Why? Because if God’s presence is what makes things holy (see Exodus 3:1–5, Exodus 19:23, Exodus 29:43–46), then it is His presence that makes the day and us holy (see Genesis 2:1–3, Exodus 35:2, Exodus 22:31, Nehemiah 10:31, Isaiah 58:13, James 4:8, 1 Peter 1:16, 1 Peter 2:9, 2 Peter 1:21).
When we try to do things independent of God, then godlessness results.
Final Summary: Who Changed the Sabbath?
Who changed the Sabbath day?
Constantine.
Who has perpetuated that change throughout history?
The Roman Catholic church.
Who continues to perpetuate that change?
Most of Christianity.
It is also an interesting note to end on that the European Sunday Alliance, which has strong affiliations with the Catholic church, is agitating once again for a universal Sunday law. Each year they celebrate a European Day for a work-free Sunday on 3 March in commemoration of Constantine’s initial decree.
Sources
Morer, T. H. (1701) Dialogue on the Lord’s Day, p. 189, Church of England
Gieseler, J. K. L (1857) A Text-Book of Church History Vol.1, ch.2, p.93., Harper and brothers, U.S.
Bingham, J. (1710) Antiquities of the Christian Church, Vol. II. Book XX, chap 3, Sec. 1 66.1137, 1138., Robert Knaplock, United Kingdom
Grant, M. (2011) The Emperor Constantine, Orion, United Kingdom
Rev. Charles Joseph Hefele, Henry N. Oxenham (trans.), A History of the Church Councils from 326 to 429 Volume 2 (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1896): 316
Fallon, M.F. (Bishop of London) The Catholic Record: Volume XLV, [No.] 2342 (September 1, 1923)
Pitman, S. (2017) Christians and the Truth. Accessed via
