Expert: Australian International Evangelist Matthew Starrs - 8/14/2005

Question
Why did we change from Saturday to Sunday Sabbath?  If you know the history and the reasoning, that would be great.

I have a 7th-day adventist friend that says that it's because the catholics changed it, and all other Christians just followed along.  He also gave me literature on the  history and reasoning he thought was behind it (show of power of the catholic religion).

While I am able to express to him through scripture why it doesn't matter what day you keep as the sabbath, I am not able to explain why we changed it in the first place.  Why didn't we just leave it alone?  This is turning out to be a point of weakness, because he rightly says that tradition doesn't make it right.  He also made the statement that, throughout history, the majority has always been wrong on religious principals.  So how do I respond to that if I don't understand why we changed it in the first place.  

ARE we just following the catholic lead?

Thanks,

Mike

Answer
Hi Mike,
Your friend is actually very wrong. It wasn't the Catholics that changed it. They didn't even exist until about 300 AD. The New Testament records Christians meeting on the first day of the week (also known as the Lords Day).
There are a couple of reasons forf this. The first is because the New Testament Church still observed the Jewish Sabbath, and therefore were not able to conduct their own Christian services on the Sabbath. The other reason is because the Lord rose from the dead on the first day of the week, and the ressurrection was (and is) the major defining event of Christianity, therefore this day was of special significance.
Paul makes it clear that holding one day as more important than another is actually evidence of being weak in Faith (see Colossians 2). Actually that chapter condemns SDA doctrine on several levels - non eating of foods, observance of holy days, and worshipping of angels (SDA's believe that Jesus is the Arch Angel Michael).
Blessings!
Matthew.