Who Changed the Sabbath?

“THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

Ques. Say the third commandment. WCS 8.1

Ans. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. WCS 8.2

Q. What is commanded by the third commandment? WCS 8.3

A. To spend the Sunday in prayer and other religious duties. WCS 8.4

Q. Which are the chief duties of religion in which we should spend the Sundays? WCS 8.5

A. Hearing mass devoutly; attending vespers, or evening prayers; reading moral and pious books; and going to communion. WCS 8.6

Q. The hearing of mass, then, is not sufficient to sanctify the Sunday? WCS 8.7

A. No; a part of the day should also be given to prayer and good works.” - Butler’s Catechism, p. 26. WCS 8.8

In the “Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion,” further instruction is given on the third (fourth) commandment, with the authority for the change as shown by the following questions and answers: - WCS 8.9

“Ques. What does God ordain by this commandment? WCS 8.10

Ans. He ordains that we sanctify, in a special manner, this day on which he rested from the labor of creation. WCS 8.11

Q. What is this day of rest? WCS 8.12

A. The seventh day of the week, or Saturday; for he employed six days in creation, and rested on the seventh. Genesis 2:2; Hebrews 4:1, etc. WCS 8.13

Q. Is it, then, Saturday we should sanctify in order to obey the ordinance of God? A. During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified; but the church, instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now we sanctify the first, not the seventh, day. Sunday means, and now is, the day of the Lord. WCS 8.14

Q. Had the church power to make such change? WCS 9.1

A. Certainly, since the Spirit of God is her guide, the change is inspired by that Holy Spirit.” WCS 9.2

In another Catholic work, called the “Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,” the Catholic church asserts its power to change the law, in the following manner: - WCS 9.3

“Ques. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days? WCS 9.4

Ans. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church. WCS 9.5

Q. How prove you that? WCS 9.6

A. Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.” WCS 9.7

In the “Catholic Christian Instructed” is presented the following list of feast days, which all rest upon the same foundation; namely, the authority of the Catholic church. Of these, Sunday takes the lead: - WCS 9.8

“Ques. What are the days which the church commands to be kept holy? WCS 9.9

Ans. 1. The Sunday, or our Lord’s day, which we observe by apostolic tradition, instead of the Sabbath. 2. The feasts of our Lord’s Nativity, or Christmas day; his circumcision, or New Year’s day; the Epiphany, or twelfth day; Easter-day, or the day of our Lord’s resurrection, with the Monday following; the day of our Lord’s ascension; Whit-Sunday, or the day of the coming of the Holy Ghost, with the Monday following; Trinity Sunday; Corpus Christi, or the feasts of the blessed sacrament. 3. We keep the days of the Annunciation, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 4. We observe the feasts of All-saints; of St. John Baptist; of the holy apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. 5. In this kingdom we keep the feasts of St. Patrick, our principal patron.” WCS 9.10

From the same work, we take the following additional testimony: - WCS 10.1

“Ques. What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday, preferable to the ancient Sabbath, which was the Saturday? WCS 10.2

Ans. We have for it the authority of the Catholic church, and apostolic tradition. WCS 10.3

Q. Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for the Sabbath? WCS 10.4

A. The Scripture commands us to hear the church (Matthew 18:17; Luke 10:16), and to hold fast the traditions of the apostles. 2 Thessalonians 2:15. But the Scriptures do not in particular mention this change of the Sabbath. John speaks of the Lord’s day (Revelation 1:10); but he does not tell us what day of the week this was, much less does he tell us that this day was to take the place of the Sabbath ordained in the commandments. Luke also speaks of the disciples’ meeting together to break bread on the first day of the week. Acts 20:7. And Paul (1 Corinthians 16:2) orders that on the first day of the week the Corinthians should lay by in store what they designed to bestow in charity on the faithful in Judea; but neither the one nor the other tells us that the first day of the week was to be henceforth the day of worship and the Christian Sabbath; so that truly the best authority we have for this is the testimony and ordinance of the church. And, therefore, those who pretend to be so religious of the Sunday, whilst they take no notice of other festivals ordained by the same church authority, show that they act by humor, and not by reason and religion; since Sundays and holy days all stand upon the same foundation, viz., the ordinance of the church.” - Cath. Chris. Instructed, pp. 209-211. WCS 10.5

The “Doctrinal Catechism,” pp. 101, 174, 351-355, offers proof that Protestants are not guided by Scripture. We present two of the questions and answers: - WCS 11.1

“Ques. Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept? WCS 11.2

Ans. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; - she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority. WCS 11.3

Q. When Protestants do profane work upon Saturday, or the seventh day of the week, do they follow the Scripture as their only rule of faith - do they find this permission clearly laid down in the Sacred Volume? WCS 11.4

A. On the contrary they have only the authority of tradition for this practice. In profaning Saturday, they violate one of God’s commandments, which he has never clearly abrogated - ‘Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.’” WCS 11.5

Then follows a statement and refutation of the arguments Protestants usually rely on to prove the change of the Sabbath, such as the resurrection of Christ, the pouring out of the Spirit, the Lord’s day of Revelation 1:10; Acts 20:7; and 1 Corinthians 16:2, showing that these scriptures contain no evidence of the institution of Sunday observance, but that the practice rests solely upon the authority of the Catholic church. WCS 12.1