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
This father wrote about A. D. 270. He participated in the discussion
of the question whether the festival of Easter, or passover, should be
celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month, the same day on
which the Jews observed the passover, or whether it should be observed
on the so-called Lord's day next following. In this discussion he
uses the term Lord's day, in his first canon once, quoting it from
Origen; in his seventh, twice; in his tenth, twice; in his eleventh,
four times; in his twelfth, once; in his sixteenth, twice. These are
all the instances in which he uses the term. We quote such of them as
shed any light upon the meaning of it as used by him. In his seventh
canon he says: "The obligation of the Lord's resurrection binds to
keep the paschal festival on the Lord's day." In his tenth canon he
uses this language: "The solemn festival of the resurrection of the
Lord can be celebrated only on the Lord's day." And also "that it
should not be lawful to celebrate the Lord's mystery of the passover
at any other time but on the Lord's day, on which the resurrection
of the Lord from death took place, and on which rose also for us the
cause of everlasting joy." In his eleventh canon he says: "On the
Lord's day was it that light was shown to us in the beginning, and now
also in the end, the comforts of all present and the tokens of all
future blessings." In his sixteenth canon he says: "Our regard for the
Lord's resurrection which took place on the Lord's day will lead us to
celebrate it on the same principle."
The reader may be curious to know why a controversy should have arisen
respecting the proper day for the celebration of the passover in the
Christian church when no such celebration had ever been commanded.
The explanation is this: The festival was celebrated solely on the
authority of tradition, and there were in this case two directly
conflicting traditions, as is fully shown in the tenth canon of this
father. One party had their tradition from John the apostle, and held
that the paschal feast should be celebrated every year "whenever the
fourteenth day of the moon had come, and the lamb was sacrificed by
the Jews." But the other party had their tradition from the apostles
Peter and Paul that this festival should not be celebrated on that
day, but upon the so-called Lord's day next following. And so a fierce
controversy arose which was decided in A. D. 325, by the council of
Nice, in favor of Saint Peter, who had on his side his pretended
successor, the powerful and crafty bishop of Rome.
The term Lord's day is never applied to Sunday till the closing years
of the second century. And Clement, who is the first to make such an
application, represents the true Lord's day as made up of every day of
the Christian's life. And this opinion is avowed by others after him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account