Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach

WHAT ABOUT SUNDAY?
not. They gave the reasons that we have previously
discussed. Clearly, they understood the teachings of Paul and
the rest of the Bible as we have just studied. The Sabbath
was a permissible option, but not binding on Christians.
However, there was a need to gather for corporate worship.
Because many of the Jewish Christians would still attend
synagogue on the Sabbath, there was a need to set aside
another time when other Christians, including the Gentile
Christians, could gather for their own private meetings. This
became Sunday. Our first record of this reference was in 107
AD. That is only 11 years from the time of John’s reference
to the Lord's day in Revelation 1:10 It is quite probable that
John was referring to Sunday when he mentioned that day—
not because of any sacredness attached to it, but because it
was the common meeting day for Christians. 2
In 140 A.D. Justin Martyr held a detailed dialogue with
Trypho, a Jewish critic of the Christians. In this debate he
explains why the Christians do not observe any Sabbaths. He
refers specifically to the Pauline Scriptures we have
examined in this book. His arguments were based on the
fulfillment of the Law in Christ, specifically the Sabbath.
This detailed theological explanation to a Jewish critic
clearly demonstrates how the early Christians believed. He
was writing from the city of Ephesus where John had been
the pastor/leader. This discussion took place only 44 years
after the death of the Apostle and demonstrates what he
considers to be the universal understanding of Christians at
that time. 3 The idea that Sabbath was changed from Saturday
to Sunday by the Catholic Church in later years is not borne
out by the historical record.
The early Christians had some sentimental attachment to
the first day of the week as well. Not only did the Lord rise
on that day, but of the seven appearances of Jesus to his
2 H. M. Riggle, Sabbath and the Lord’s Day, (Glendale AZ: Life
Assurance Ministries) pp. 114-135.
3 Ibid. pp 121-130.
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