THE EARLY CHRISTIAN SABBATH - Friends of the Sabbath Australia

The Early Christian Sabbath
anti-Jewish bitterness, of unauthorized tradition, and of paganized apostasy. The
honoring of the sun on the first day of the astrological week has expedited the process.
Constantine legalized and made official this development. Easter observance under the
sponsorship of the Church of Rome, added its pressure.
9. Why Easter Is Always on Sunday
A MONG the earliest traditional, un-Scriptural practices which came into the
church were two related observances: the keeping of Sunday as a day of worship for
Christians, and the observance of Easter in annual celebration of the resurrection of
Christ. No authentic, factual, reliable document gives evidence that Sunday was kept by
Christians earlier than about AD 150. Justin Martyr, who was martyred during the reign
of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, wrote two apologies not long before he died. In chapter 67
of The First Apology of Justin this description is found:
“On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together
to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as
long as time permits. Then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs,
and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Sunday is the day on which we all hold
our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change
in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day
rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday).
And on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the sun, having appeared to His
apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also
for your consideration.” - In The AnteNicene Fathers, Volume 2, Page 186.
For this meeting of Christians on the day of the sun, the first day of the week,
there is no Scriptural basis, and it is to be noted that Justin Martyr claims none. In fact, as
mentioned in a previous chapter, a careful examination of all the writers of the Christian
church still extant, up to the year AD 325, reveals that none of them claims any
foundation in any Scriptural text for the keeping of Sunday. It has no basis except what
Tertullian acknowledged; namely, tradition.
How, then, did the keeping of Sunday happen to grow so rapidly? Because it was
deliberately fostered by the bishop of Rome. This is illustrated in his efforts on behalf of
Easter.
It is a well-known fact that Christ was crucified during the Jewish Passover
season. He arose at the beginning of the Jewish Feast of Unleavened Bread, which
followed the Passover -supper. Therefore, to know when to observe the annual spring
festival, it was necessary for Christians to follow the Jewish calendar. In doing so, the
anniversary of Christ's crucifixion and of the resurrection would of course fall on
different days of the week each year, in keeping with Jewish reckoning. This method of
dating the spring feast was maintained without question in the East.
Between the years AD 50 and 200, the Roman government had a great deal of
trouble with Jewish riots and revolts, and in the politically charged atmosphere centering
at Rome the feeling against Jews was very bitter, both officially and in the popular mind.
The church in the West felt irked at having to depend on Jewish reckoning for a church
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