Did the Sabbath Day change from Saturday to Sunday by God or by Man?

Question

I dont see any Bible passages that changes the "7th day" to Sunday. If you have one that does I would like to know it.

Answer 1

You have to look at the spirit and intent of God's commandment to observe the Sabbath. Would God condemn his apostles for changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? Will he send them to hell for doing that?

This question has been asked many times. Perhaps we did not do a good job of explaining why some Christian churches, notably the Catholic Church changed the Sabbath.

Some religious organizations (Seventh-Day Adventists, Seventh-Day Baptists, and certain others) claim that Christians must not worship on Sunday but on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. They claim that, at some unnamed time after the apostolic age, the Church "changed" the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday.

However, passages of Scripture such as Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2, Colossians 2:16-17, and Revelation 1:10 indicate that, even during New Testament times, the Sabbath is no longer binding and that Christians are to worship on the Lord’s day, Sunday, instead.

The early Church Fathers compared the observance of the Sabbath to the observance of the rite of circumcision, and from that they demonstrated that if the apostles abolished circumcision (Gal. 5:1-6), so also the observance of the Sabbath must have been abolished. The following quotations show that the first Christians understood this principle and gathered for worship on Sunday.


The Didache



"But every Lord’s day . . . gather yourselves together and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned" (Didache 14 [A.D. 70]).


The Letter of Barnabas



"We keep the eighth day [Sunday] with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead" (Letter of Barnabas 15:6–8 [A.D. 74]).


Ignatius of Antioch



"[T]hose who were brought up in the ancient order of things [i.e. Jews] have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and by his death" (Letter to the Magnesians 8 [A.D. 110]).


Justin Martyr



"[W]e too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined [on] you—namely, on account of your transgressions and the hardness of your heart. . . . [H]ow is it, Trypho, that we would not observe those rites which do not harm us—I speak of fleshly circumcision and Sabbaths and feasts? . . . God enjoined you to keep the Sabbath, and imposed on you other precepts for a sign, as I have already said, on account of your unrighteousness and that of your fathers . . ." (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 18, 21 [A.D. 155]).

"But 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" (First Apology 67 [A.D. 155]).

Peace and every blessing?

Answer 2

I am not aware of any such passage either. In fact, Sunday is not, nor ever was, the Sabbath. Here is my understanding of how Sunday-worship came to be:

The Jewish people always had a Sabbath on Saturday. The first Christians were actually Jewish. They did not give up being Jewish when they began to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They still followed as much Judaism as they did before their belief in Jesus. So, they continued to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, and would probably go to the local synagogue, or the Temple (before it was destroyed in the year 70) on Saturdays.
Then, on Sundays, they would meet, usually in a home, with their Christian friends, for a shared meal. There was no contradiction for them in observing the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday, and then having a Christian gathering on Sunday.

They did not suddenly regard Sunday as the Sabbath.

Now, eventually, the Christian movement spread and became a mostly Gentile movement. Gentiles never kept the Sabbath to begin with. At first, some of the so-called "Judaizers" did try to get Gentiles to keep the Sabbath, as well as other Jewish laws, including the kosher laws and circumcision. But Paul - the greatest apostle to the Gentiles - taught very emphatically that Gentile Christians did not have to keep those types of Jewish observances. He did stress that all must keep the ethical commandments. But the ritual commandments - those which set the Jewish people apart as a people - such as dietary laws, holidays (including the Sabbath), and circumcision - were NOT necessary for Gentile Christians.

Therefore, according to the teachings of Paul, Christians do not need to keep the Sabbath at all. So, this is what developed in the Gentile churches. There was no Sabbath meeting, but that Sunday meeting was kept. But Sunday did not somehow become the Sabbath.

See Colossians 2:16-17:
"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."

This verse is talking about the Judaizers who were advocating that Gentile Christians had to do all those things - keep kosher, the religious festivals, and the Sabbath day. But clearly, Paul says you don't have to do this.

Now, my personal opinion: I'm not a Christian, but I see the value of all religions. I find the Jewish custom of keeping Sabbath a most beautiful thing. It is a whole day set aside to worship God, pray, be with family, read Scriptures, and rest. If a Christian wants to do this, he would probably benefit from it. Whether he set aside such a day on a Sunday, Saturday, or a Tuesday, it would not matter. But a Christian does not have to keep any day as the Sabbath if he does not want to, according to the New Testament.

Answer 3

Here it is:

Mat 28:1 And in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre.
Mat 28:2 And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and coming rolled back the stone and sat upon it.
Mat 28:3 And his countenance was as lightning and his raiment as snow.
Mat 28:4 And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror and became as dead men.
Mat 28:5 And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you: for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
Mat 28:6 He is not here. For he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid.

Jesus made all things new by his saving death and resurrection.

Jesus picked Sunday to rise again from the dead.

By this, all the old laws were fulfilled and set aside, leaving no more old sabbath to keep.

The church has always known and observed this fact, from the earliest days.

The old law never saved anyone. Why are you still trying to keep it?

Jesus saves. Not law.

Answer 4

New Testament makes it clear that the observance of a particular day was not imposed as a binding obligation. Romans 14:5-6 makes it clear that there was some freedom in the matter of special days. Colossians 2:16-17 commanded the church not to allow anyone to act as their judge in regard to sabbath days. And Galatians 4:9-10 warns against going back under the Law by insisting on the legal requirement of special days. (christiananswers.net)

So I guess to answer your question it is both God and man.

Answer 5

It didn't change. All of the indigenous Christian denominations of Russia, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India still recognize Saturday as the Sabbath - "Sabbatos" is still the word for Saturday in modern Greek. But the early Church observed two services: the Vespers service was observed on Saturday at sundown, and was virtually identical to the Jewish service. The Eucharist, however, was observed on Sunday morning as early as the first century.

Answer 6

The sabbath day was not made for a certain day of the week, it was made for people that worked for six days in a row so they would rest and reflect on the seventh.

It has/had nothing to do with it being saturday or sunday.

Answer 7

The Sabbath Day has never changed. But NT Christians began meeting on the Lord's Day, Sunday and the tradition has never changed for most believers in Jesus. Nine of the Ten commandments are reiterated in the NT for Christians, but number four is specifically omitted. On the other hand Christians are encouraged to be Holy 24/7/365.
1Peter 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
I Cr 13;8a

Answer 8

The Sabbath day actually is Saturday. If you say Saturday really fast, it sounds like Sabbath day. Saturday sounds like it was derived from the planet, Saturn, which is the Seventh planet...not the sixth.

Sunday or Sun day should actually be the beginning of the work week.

Answer 9

The days are arbitraty - rearrange them, move them back three days or forward two. Somebody started counting once upon a time, people changed calanders here and there in history, and God doesn't wear a Timex. The intent is to take time for yourself, which is holy. For most of human existance your subsistance was tied directly to your work - there were no grocery stores or online outlets. If you wanted to eat, you grew it. People could work all the time and still starve. The intention of the Sabbath was for people to take time to be themselves, with their friends and their family, and be alive.

Answer 10

Actually, according to our calendar as we view it today, Sunday is the first day of the week, not Monday. Besides, what does it really matter?? The whole point of the Sabbath is that you shouldn't work all the time and you should at least take off one day to enjoy yourself and your family. It doesn't matter if that day is Sunday or Wednesday. What really matters is that you're a retard if you want to work 7 days a week and you don't really enjoy your life.