History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week - John N. Andrews

days discard the Sabbath, do also discard the most
of the reasons offered by these fathers for this same
course. We have also learned from such of the
early fathers as mention first-day observance, the
exact nature of the Sunday festival, and all the
reasons which in the first centuries were offered in
its support. Very few indeed of these reasons are
now offered by modern first-day writers.
But some of the fathers bear emphatic
testimony to the perpetuity of the Ten
Commandmentsand make their observance the
condition of eternal life. Some of them also
distinctly assert the origin of the Sabbath at
creation. Several of them moreover either bear
witness to the existence of Sabbath-keepers, or
bear decisive testimony to the perpetuity and
obligation of the Sabbath, or define the nature of
proper Sabbatic observance, or connect the
observance of the Sabbath and first day together.
Let us now hear the testimony of those who assert
the authority of the Ten Commandments. Irenaeus
asserts their perpetuity, and makes them a test of
Christian character. Thus he says:--
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