There are claims that the Roman Empire, and later the Roman Catholic Church, changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Indeed, in the Edict of Milan in AD 313, Constantine ended Christian persecution. About seven years later, the same emperor decreed Sunday to be the Roman day of rest. He said, “On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.”1
The Roman Catholic Church later claimed they officially transferred worship from Saturday to Sunday. In the Convert’s Catechism of the Catholic Doctrine, they ask, “Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?” Their answer: “We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (AD 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” They go on: “The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.” And by what authority? They claim, “The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her [the Roman Catholic Church].”2
Here’s what the Council of Laodicea says:
Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.
Canon 29, AD 363
To cap it all off, The Catholic Record of September 17, 1893, says:
Sunday is founded, not of scripture, but on tradition, and is distinctly a Catholic Institution. As there is no scripture for the transfer of the day of rest from the last to the first day of the week, Protestants ought to keep their Sabbath on Saturday and thus leave the Catholic church in full possession of Sunday.
So, there you have it. The Catholic Church did change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, right? They claim to have had the authority and the motive. They claim to be the sole possessors of Sunday as a day of worship. If this were true, we should find absolutely no evidence that Christians honored Christ and worshiped on Sunday before AD 321. Rather, we should find plenty of evidence—both in Scripture and in early church writings—that Christians observed Saturday as a Sabbath day. Sorry to spoil it, but that’s not what we find. Two points must be considered:
- If you believe that the Roman Catholic Church changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday simply because they claim to have done so, do you also believe their claims in other areas simply because they say so? For example, since the Roman Catholic Church claims that their Pope is the successor of Peter and the vicar of Christ, do you believe that too? Similarly, should we agree that salvation is found in the Catholic Church alone, as §846 of their catechism claims? Just because they claim they changed the Sabbath and had the authority to do so does not mean it is true.
- Although the Roman Catholic Church claims to have made the shift from Saturday to Sunday in the fourth century, history and Scripture show that Christians honored Christ and worshiped on Sunday for centuries before Constantine or the Catholic Church claimed any authority over the day.
Before we go further, we need to address a common misconception: the idea of a “Christian Sabbath.” Some claim that Christians simply moved the Sabbath from the seventh day (Saturday) to the first day (Sunday), calling Sunday the Sabbath. But that’s not what Scripture teaches. While the New Testament identifies Sunday as the Lord’s Day—the day Christ rose and should be honored—it never calls Sunday the Sabbath. The Sabbath law, given in the Law of Moses to Israel, was never binding on Gentiles and is no longer binding on Israel. And in Scripture, when the Sabbath Day is mentioned, it always refers to the seventh day of the week (what we call Saturday).
Some religious groups are trying to bind the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments. What’s worse is that they are trying to bind this Law on Gentiles, whom God never gave the Law to. And when they do so, they come across commandment four:
Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Deuteronomy 5:12–15
It’s easy enough to bind commandments like, “Do not murder” and “Have no other gods before Me,” but, if you’re convinced that the Ten Commandments apply to Christians, what do you do with the Sabbath law? Well, you just superimpose it onto Sunday. That may be convenient, but it’s an irresponsible handling of Scripture. Read the Law and remember that, while the Law of Moses was in effect and binding on Israel, no other nations were expected to keep the Law of Moses, including the specific Ten Commandments. And, as we saw in the previous passage, the reason why the Israelites were given the Sabbath was for them to remember their heritage and God’s work with them to rescue them from Egypt. When prophets were sent to other nations, they did not measure the people against the Ten Commandments. They measured them against the character of God (which has always been the standard of human decency). If you haven’t seen our study on whether or not Christians follow the Old Testament, check it out here.
Here’s the point for now: the argument is, “Nowhere in the Bible was the Sabbath changed. It’s only in the history of Rome that the Sabbath was changed.” That’s true. After the resurrection of Jesus, in Scripture, what do we see? The day of the Sabbath wasn’t changed. Instead, we see that the Sabbath day was no longer binding, and Christians honored Christ and worshiped on the first day of the week (see our study on this subject here). We’ve got another study that dives deeper into this subject (check it out here), but here are some examples:
- All four gospel accounts tell us the tomb of Jesus was found empty on the first day of the week, and they also emphasize that it was the day after the Sabbath.
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
Luke 24:1–2
- Although Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection for a period of forty days, whenever the specific day is mentioned, it’s always on the first day of the week.
Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:19
- Jesus told the apostles they would begin preaching forgiveness in His name in Jerusalem, but they were to wait until the Holy Spirit came upon them. When He did, it was on Pentecost, which always fell on the first day of the week. Thus, the first time the Lord added saved souls to His church was on a Sunday.
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Acts 2:1
- Paul taught in every church that they were to have a regular assembly on the first day of every week.
Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
1 Corinthians 16:1–2
- The disciples waited to partake of the Lord’s Supper until the first day of the week.
Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
Acts 20:7
Again, we’ve looked at these closer in our study on why Christians worship on Sundays. For the purpose of this study, it’s clear that the New Testament emphasizes the first day of the week (Sunday) as the Lord’s Day—Jesus’ day. Beyond that, we never see Jesus or His disciples observe the Sabbath day after His resurrection as a day of Christian assembly and worship.
(As a side note, we are not suggesting it is wrong to worship God on a Saturday, or any other day of the week for that matter. The point is, the Scriptures do not teach that Saturday [or Sunday] is a Sabbath day for Christians. Sabbath means rest, not worship. It wasn’t just resting. It was enjoying the fruit and peace that came from working hard for six days. It was a period of grace given by God. It wasn’t just the master who rested while everyone else waited on him. Everyone—from the heads of households, to the servants of households, to even the beasts of labor—took a break. It was a day to enjoy and remember God’s grace.)
Scripture is sufficient to prove that Rome did not come up with the idea of honoring Christ on the first day of the week. Here’s the nail in the coffin: early Christian writings show that, beyond the apostles and prophets of the New Testament, first, second, and third century Christians assembled, honored Jesus, and worshiped on the first day of the week, not the seventh. Here’s a sample:
Ignatius (AD 35–107):
If therefore those who lived according to the old practices came to the new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath but living according to the Lord’s day, in which also our life arose through him and his death (which some deny), through which mystery we received faith, and on account of which we suffer in order that we may be found disciples of Jesus Christ our only teacher, how shall we be able to live apart from him for whom even the prophets were looking as their teacher since they were his disciples in the spirit?
Magnesians 9
Justin (AD 100-165):
We are always together with one another. And for all the things with which we are supplied we bless the Maker of all through his Son Jesus Christ and through his Holy Spirit. And on the day called Sunday there is a gathering together in the same place of all who live in a city or a rural district. […] We all make our assembly in common on the day of the Sun, since it is the first day, on which God changed the darkness and matter and made the world, and Jesus Christ our Savior arose from the dead on the same day. For they crucified him on the day before Saturn’s day, and on the day after (which is the day of the Sun) he appeared to his apostles and taught his disciples these things.
Apology I, 67.1-3, 7
There is no other thing for which you blame us, my friends, is there than this? That we do not live according to the Law, nor are we circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers, nor do we observe the Sabbath as you do.
Dialogue with Trypho 10.1
The commandment of circumcision, requiring them always to circumcise the children on the eighth day, was a type of the true circumcision by which we are circumcised from error and evil through the resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week of Jesus Christ our Lord. For the first day of the week, although it is the first of all days, yet according to the number of the days in a cycle is called the eighth (while still remaining the first).
Ibid. 41.4
Clement of Alexandria (AD 150–215):
He does the commandment according to the Gospel and keeps the Lord’s day, whenever he puts away an evil mind… glorifying the Lord’s resurrection in himself.
Miscellanies 7.12.76.4
Tertullian (AD 155–240):
Others, with greater regard to good manners, it must be confessed, suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians, because it is well-known that… we regard Sunday as a day of joy.
To the Nations 1.13
To us Sabbaths are foreign.
On Idolatry 14.6
Let him who contends that the Sabbath is still to be observed as a balm of salvation, and circumcision on the eighth day because of the threat of death, teach us that in earliest times righteous men kept the Sabbath or practiced circumcision, and so were made friends of God… It follows, accordingly, that, inasmuch as the abolition of carnal circumcision and of the old law is demonstrated as having been consummated in its own times, so also the observance of the Sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary.
An Answer to the Jews 2.10; 4.1
Bardesanes (AD 155–222):
Wherever we are, we are all called after the one name of Christ–Christians. On one day, the first of the week, we assemble ourselves together.
On Fate
These writers were neither prophets nor inspired. But they do give us a glimpse into early Christianity. When we look carefully, we see that, long before Constantine, and even longer before the organization of the Roman Catholic Church, Christians observed Sunday as the Lord’s Day. They agreed with the Scriptures that the Sabbath day and all of the Law of Moses has been fulfilled in Christ.
Yes, the Roman Catholic Church claims authority in a lot of areas. But I’d rather trust Scripture. For those of us who are in Christ, let’s follow Him and His inspired apostles and prophets by honoring Christ and worshiping together on the first day of every week.