RESTORING A PEOPLE, REBUILDING A NATION
Many people believe Sunday is the Sabbath day and debate that the change of the Sabbath from the Seventh day to the first day of the week dates back to J.C. and his apostles and that it replaced the seventh day Sabbath for most Christians as early as the first century A.D. and became a custom by the mid second century. So it's taught that all Christians and Catholics should not keep the seventh day Sabbath as an observance, since Sunday is the day of Christ resurrection Matt. 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-9. Yet around the 4th and 5th century the Roman Empire began to rule and changed time and laws, and in 380 A.D. the Roman Empire successfully adopted Christianity as a state religion. Constantine was the roman emperor around the 4th century. At that time the cult Mithraism or sun-worship was the official religion of the Roman Empire and it was Christianity greatest competitor. It had its own organization, temple, priesthood and worship day which they would give homage to the sun. That day was known as "The Venerable Day of the Sun" which is the first day of the week, and from this day the name Sunday arrived. Originally Constantine was a pagan sun worshiper and he instituted his pagan ways into the temple for their adoration of the sun god. Constantine accepted their day of sun worship instead of the Sabbath day to make pagan worship more convenient for them. It is easier to understand how the change was imposed on Christianity through a strong civil law issued by Constantine as the Emperor of Rome. This information of the civil law can be found in an encyclopedia.
“The Gentiles were an idolatrous people who worshipped the sun, and Sunday was their most sacred day. Now in order to reach the people in this new field, it seems but natural as well as necessary to make Sunday the rest day of the church. At this time it was necessary for the church to either adopt the Gentile’s day or else have the Gentiles change their day. To change the Gentiles day would have been an offense and stumbling block to them. The church could naturally reach them better by keeping their day.” - Dr. William Frederick
"THE CHILDREN OF YISRAEL SHALL KEEP THE SABBATH, TO OBSERVE THE SABBATH THROUGHOUT THEIR GENERATIONS, FOR A PERPETUAL COVENANT" EXODUS 31:13-17
A quote from the Catholic Press newspaper in Sidney, Australia. “Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. From the beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.”
SABBATH
The Sabbath also known as the Shabbat in Hebrew, is a weekly joyful day of rest and worship. It is first mentioned in Genesis 2:2-3 were it is set aside as a day of rest and made holy. Remembrance of the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. This was a perpetual covenant for the Israelites Exodus 31:13-17. Observance was universally from the sixth day sundown to the seventh day sun down Genesis 1:2-4. It is not specifically a day of prayer, although we do pray on the Shabbat, we spend an amount of time in the temple reading the law and singing praises to The Creator because it is commanded to be kept as a holy convocation Leviticus 23:2. Shabbat preparation takes place on Friday afternoon the house is cleaned, the family bathes and the best dishes are cooked. In addition, everything that cannot be done during Shabbat must be set up in advance and preparations for the remaining Shabbat meals for the temple must be made because you are not to cook on the Sabbath. Exodus 16:23.