The Complete Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and First DayAndrews, John Nevins
Religion
The Complete Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and First Day
Andrews, John Nevins
Sabbath; Seventh-Day Adventists; Sunday
"But keep the Sabbath, and the Lord's-day festival; because the
former is the memorial of the creation, and the latter, of the
resurrection. But there is one only Sabbath to be observed by you
in the whole year, which is that of our Lord's burial, on which
men ought to keep a fast, but not a festival. For inasmuch as
the Creator was then under the earth, the sorrow for him is more
forcible than the joy for the creation; for the Creator is more
honorable by nature and dignity than his own creatures."
In book vii., section 2, paragraph 30, he says: "On the day of
the resurrection of the Lord, that is, the Lord's day, assemble
yourselves together, without fail, giving thanks to God," etc.
In paragraph 36, the writer brings in the Sabbath again: "O Lord
Almighty, thou hast created the world by Christ, and hast appointed
the Sabbath in memory thereof, because that on _that day_ thou hast
made us _rest from our works_, for the meditation upon thy laws."
In the same paragraph, in speaking of the resurrection of Christ, the
writer says:--
"On which account we solemnly assemble to celebrate the feast of
the resurrection on the Lord's day," etc. In the same paragraph
he speaks again of the Sabbath: "Thou didst give them the law or
decalogue, which was pronounced by thy voice and written with
thy hand. Thou didst enjoin the observation of the Sabbath, not
affording them an occasion of idleness, but an opportunity of
piety, for their knowledge of thy power, and the prohibition of
evils; having limited them as within an holy circuit for the sake
of doctrine, for the rejoicing upon the seventh period."
In this paragraph he also states his views of the Sabbath, and of
the day which he calls the Lord's day, giving the precedence to the
latter:--
"On this account he permitted men every Sabbath to rest, that
so no one might be willing to send one word out of his mouth in
anger on the day of the Sabbath. For the Sabbath is the ceasing
of the creation, the completion of the world, the inquiry after
laws, and the grateful praise to God for the blessings he has
bestowed upon men. All which the Lord's day excels, and shows the
Mediator himself, the Provider, the Law-giver, the Cause of the
resurrection, the First-born of the whole creation," etc. And he
adds: "So that the Lord's day commands us to offer unto thee, O
Lord, thanksgiving for all. For this is the grace afforded by thee,
which on account of its greatness has obscured all other blessings."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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