Friday, August 13, 2010

Commandment: Do Not Bear False Witness


I know... I know that Adventists are sincere. 

They do not mean to bear false witness against their neighbor. But they do it all the time. Their entire sect is based upon the idea that it is wrong to worship on Sunday and that Constantine changed the Sabbath to Sunday...


NONE of this is true. Christians have always, since the day of Resurrection worshipped on Sunday.

Jesus rose on Sunday. (Matt. 28: 1; Mark 16:2, 9; John 20:1)

That evening, He appeared to His disciples who were behind a locked door and consecrated them for His service. SUNDAY.

Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. John 20: 19-22.

A week later (John 20:26) the disciples were again together worshipping and Jesus appeared to them. SUNDAY.

Pentecost was on a Sunday, which many point to as the beginning of the Christian church.

The New Testament records they attended worship services on Sunday. (Acts 20: 7; I Cor. 16: 2.)

The Lord's Day (Gk, kyriake hemera) was a common phrase for Sunday. This was used by John in Revelation. (I have heard Adventists say this was a reference, not to Sunday but to the final day of Judgment. However, the common phrase for that was hemera tou kyriou, never kyriake hermera).

There are also references in first and early second century Christian writings that affirm Christians worshipped on Sunday.

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles or Didache 14, "But on the Lord's Day, after that ye have assembled together, break bread and give thanks, having in addition confessed your sins, that your sacrifice may be pure." This is a reference to the Acts two breaking of the bread on the first day.
110 A.D., St. Ignatius of Antioch (letter to the Magnesians) "If, then, those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living according to the Lord’s life . . ."

The mid-second century, Gospel of Peter, (even though the work was not written by Peter and was not included in the canon, it is a historical document) records the early church worshipping on Sunday.

There is also the writings of Dionysius, bishop of Corinth in his letter to the Romans (2nd. century) "Today we have kept the Lord's holy day" The Lord's holy day being the same words as used for Sunday.

Another second century document, Acts of Peter, calls The Lord's Day (Dies Domini) "the next day after the Sabbath."

Justin Martyr wrote of the Lord's Day, Sunday, as fulfilling the eighth day symbolism in scripture. (2nd century).

There was a clear distinction by the second century between The Lord's Day and Sabbath. They WERE NOT the same day, nor was Sunday considered a "sabbath." From the beginning Christians celebrated Sunday as a memorial of the resurrection. In fact they worshipped every day of the week. Constantine never changed Saturday worship into Sunday worship because the early church had ALWAYS worshipped on Sunday (and Saturday--that is how we get our weekend!). Constantine merely signed a law of tolerance so it would be legal for the Christians to do what they had ALWAYS done--worship on Sunday.
It is a terrible false witness to teach that Christians who worship on Sunday are breaking the commandments and that Christians never worshipped on Sunday until Constantine. It is a terrible false witness against your neighbor to teach that one day those who worship on Sunday will receive the mark of the Beast. No Biblical texts come close to saying that.
I know I am getting redundant here, but it bears repeating to Adventists:
The Apostles worshipped on Sunday! (Actually every day!) If you believe the Apostles got it wrong, then you have to dismiss all the New Testament as false. Please note this: THE APOSTLES WORSHIPPED on SUNDAY! It's okay to worship God on Sunday. It's okay to worship God any day of the week.
Adventists, we beseech you as our brothers and sisters in Christ to repent of this terrible lie repeated generation after generation. You teach that the Ten Commandments are God's law for today, well using your own standard, one of these eternal laws is DON'T BEAR FALSE WITNESS! Please, for the sake of your own souls, please cease misrepresenting scripture and misrepresenting history, stop the slander against your neighbor.