Church of God, New World Ministries

Protestant Denominations and the Sabbath

ANGLICAN / EPISCOPAL

"And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it." Plain Sermons on the Catechism, Isaac Williams, Vol. 1, pp. 334, 336

"We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy Catholic Church." Why We Keep Sunday, Bishop Seymour

The Lord’s day was merely of ecclesiastical institution. It was not introduced by virtue of the fourth commandment." Jeremy Taylor

The Primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Sabbath, and spent the Day in Devotion and Sermons. And ‘tis not to be doubted but they derived this Practice from the Apostles themselves." A Discourse in Six Dialogues on the Name, Notion, and Observation of the Lord’s Day, p. 189

BAPTIST

"To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years’ intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question... never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated..." Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, New York ministers’ conference, Nov. 13, 1893

"...But what a pity [Sunday worship] comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!" Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, New York ministers’ conference, Nov. 13, 1893

"The Lord’s Day is not sanctified by any specific command or by any inevitable inference. In all the New Testament there is no hint or suggestion of a legal obligation binding any man, whether saint or sinner, to observe the Day. Its sanctity arises only out of what it means to the true believer." The Sabbatic Question, p. 72, J. J. Taylor

CONGREGATIONALIST

"...it is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath... the Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday... There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday." The Ten Commandments, p. 127-129, Dr. R. W. Dale

"...the Christian sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath." Theology: Explained and Defended, 1823, Ser. 107, Vol. 3, p. 258, Timothy Dwight

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

"‘But,’ say some, ‘it was changed from the seventh to the first day.’ Where? When? And by whom? No man can tell. No; it never was changed, nor could it be, unless creation was to be gone through again: for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance, or respect to the reason, can be changed! It is all old wives’ fables to talk of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. If it be changed, it was that August personage changed it who changes times and laws ex officio - I think his name is Doctor Antichrist." The Christian Baptist, Feb. 2, 1824, Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 164, Alexander Campbell, Founder, Disciples of Christ

"The first day of the week is commonly called the sabbath. This is a mistake. The Sabbath of the Bible was the day just preceding the first day of the week. The first day of the week is never called the Sabbath anywhere in the entire Scriptures. It is also an error to talk about the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. There is not in any place in the Bible any intimation of such a change." First Day Observance, pp. 17, 19

LUTHERAN

"We have seen how gradually the impression of the Jewish Sabbath faded from the mind of the Christian Church, and how completely the newer thought underlying the observance of the first day took possession of the church. We have seen that the Christians of the first three centuries never confused one with the other..." The Sunday Problem, 1923, p. 36

"But they err in teaching that Sunday has taken the place of the Old Testament Sabbath and therefore must be kept as the seventh day had to be kept by the children of Israel... These churches err in their teaching, for Scripture has in no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath. There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect." Sabbath or Sunday, pp. 15-16, John Theodore Mueller

“There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament – absolutely not...” Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, New York ministers’ conference, Nov. 13, 1893

METHODIST

"The reason we observe the first day instead of the seventh is based on no positive command. One will search the Scriptures in vain for authority for changing from the seventh day to the first." Ten Rules For Living, Methodist, Clovis G. Chappell

"It is true there is no positive command for infant baptism... Nor is there any for keeping holy the first day of the week." Methodist Episcopal Theological Compend, Amos Binney, pp. 180, 181

PRESBYTERIAN

"The Sabbath is a part of the decalogue - the Ten Commandments. This alone forever settles the question as to the perpetuity of the institution... Until, therefore, it can be shown that the whole moral law has been repealed, the Sabbath will stand... The teaching of Christ confirms the perpetuity of the Sabbath." Theology Condensed, pp. 474, 475, T. C. Blake, D.D.

 
  Web Site Artwork Credits
© 2024 Church of God, New World Ministries
P.O. Box 770 New Tazewell, TN 37824       (423) 626-0553