Why do other churches worship on Sunday rather than the seventh-day Sabbath?

Did God change it or is it a misunderstanding of scripture?


Answer:

There is a long history behind why so many churches and Christian denominations observe Sunday rather than the Sabbath (Saturday). Much of this record can be confirmed in history books and encyclopedias.

Many in the early church (during the second century A.D.) began to incorporate some of the practices of the traditional pagan religions in the Roman Empire around them, including the practice of worshipping on Sunday. The church leadership also compromised and blended practices of Greek philosophers with Christianity.

The motivation for doing so was to distance themselves from anything Jewish. Although Christianity's roots are found in Jewish practice (God's laws in the Old TestamentThose books that make up the Hebrew Bible generally accepted by Christians, Jews and to some extent Muslims. It contains a threefold division: the Law (the five books of Moses), the Prophets and the Writings.), church leaders at that time were embarrassed by this association and determined to rid themselves of Jewish connections such as the seventh-day Sabbath.

While a few Sunday-keeping denominations today will cite a few scriptures from the New TestamentThe 27 authoritative books of the apostolic writings: the four Gospels of Christ, Acts (a history), 21 apostolic letters and the book of Revelation. supposedly giving "evidence" that the Sabbath was not kept in the early Church and that Sunday was, most will acknowledge that it was the political pressures in history that caused the change. Of course, this compromise with God's law (the Fourth Commandment) was also seen when churches began incorporating the trappings and practices now associated with Christmas and Easter.

If you would like to learn more about mainstream Christianity's history of replacing biblical practices with traditional pagan styles of worship, we suggest you read Holidays or Holy Days—Does It Matter Which Days We Keep? and Sunset to Sunset—God's Sabbath Rest.

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Posted August 8, 2002
Posted October 28, 2003

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