



Catholic vs Roman Catholic- What’s the Difference?







The Wikipedia entry for “catholic” notes the following:
















Justin Martyr’s (150 AD) First Apology:



Justin Martyr’s Dialogue with Trypho 10:





Tertullian (200 AD) Ad Nationes 13:






Was Worship on Sunday Intended as a “Replacement Sabbath”?




















He then drives his point home with this brilliant courtroom analogy:






4 Replies to “Refuting the “Pagan Origins of the Lord’s Day” Myth Part 2: Did the Roman Catholic Church Change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?”

  1. Who cares what SDA’s claim or what other sabbath keepers claim, what does the bible say? Your earliest examples were written in the second century. Peter in the first century wrote:



    Jude in the first century wrote:


    Paul in the first century wrote:

    2Co 11:13 – For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.


    So, who cares what seventh day adventists claim about the origins of Sunday keeping, only the bible can be believed if one is a Christian. Understanding the bible is a different story. Many assume the bible teaches that early Christians assembled on the “first day of the week” and they assume that means Sunday. It does not!

    The Greek mis-translated “first day of the week” is mia ton sabbaton, the Greek word for day, hemera, is not used in any instance. The Greek literally means “one/first the sabbaths”. The word for sabbaths, sabbaton, is in the plural.

    What most don’t understand is that with Jesus dying on Passover, a seven Sabbaths or seven weeks count always followed, counting toward Pentecost. Thus the day that Jesus arose was on the wave sheaf day that began the seven week count.

    Mia ton sabbaton was not the name given to every “Sunday” or first day of every week, it was a name for just one day and one week of every year. The day of the wave sheaf and the first week of the seven week count towards Pentecost.

    That means the historical teaching that the early church met on the first day of every week is built upon a false foundation.

    Kevin McMillen

    1. Hi Kevin,

      While I completely agree with the sentiment of your first statement, “Who cares what SDA’s claim or what other sabbath keepers claim, what does the bible say?” when it comes to discerning Biblical truth, it seems that you may be missing the point of this article series.

      As I noted in another reply to you, while I will very likely write on the subject of the law and Sabbath keeping from a Biblical perspective in future articles, that discussion is outside of the scope of the discussion of this series. The goal of this series is to respond to fallacious arguments and claims directed at the Christian practice of gathering for corporate worship on Sundays, which are commonly levied by various Sabbatarian groups.

      I prefer to restrict comments to the content of this article series, so as not to veer off into the weeds, so to speak. However, I’ll be happy to delve into the areas you mention in the comments section of forthcoming articles on the topics you are mentioning.

  2. Tiff, I really think you’re getting too technical with what sabbatarians are claiming when it comes to Sunday keeping. Honestly I can’t speak for all sabbatarians because there are so many different views just as there are among “Sunday keepers”. There are some who believe in keeping Sunday like the Sabbath, no work. Most believe that any day can be kept, though that view is more recently promoted because of sabbatarian arguments.

    Just because pagans didn’t gather weekly on Sunday does not negate the sabbatarian argument that Sunday was a special day for sun worshippers. Constantine’s edict about the venerable day of the sun proves that.

    You’re whole argument swings on the fact that pagans didn’t gather on Sunday, to which I also say, who cares. Sunday was still the day of the sun, just as Saturday was the day of Saturn. I get a kick out of people arguing with Sabbath keepers claiming that Saturday is just as pagan as Sunday. Just as hilarious are Sabbath keepers who say Saturday is the Sabbath. No it’s not. The Sabbath is from sunset on the day we call Friday til sunset on the day we call Saturday. The pagan names we use are irrelevant.

    As I mentioned above, the idea that the early church got together on the “first day of the week” comes from a total misunderstanding of scripture. Just as the idea that the Old Covenant equates to God’s law. God’s law was in existence long before the Mt. Sinai covenant. Abraham kept God’s law. Just because Gen. 1 doesn’t have a systematic list of all of God’s laws doesn’t mean they didn’t exist.

    Heb. 11 talks about Abraham seeking a city which has foundations whose builder is God. Do you know of any scripture in Gen. that tells us just when Abraham was told about this city? It’s not there, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t told.

    We know that Abraham obeyed God’s voice, his charge, his commandments and his laws. Ge. 26:5 are we to conclude this only means Abraham obeyed when he was told to leave his country or when he was about to sacrifice Isaac?
    No, Abraham knew what God’s laws were. People sinned long before Mt. Sinai but Paul said where there is no law there is no sin/transgression. So the law had to exist long before Sinai.

    That doesn’t mean that we’re saved by law keeping, far from it, there has never been a law given that can give life, as Paul so clearly says. Sure, some Sabbath keepers are legalistic, but I know many Sunday keepers who are legalistic.

    Anyone who keeps any law thinking they’re going to gain any brownie points with God is sorely mistaken. This is coming from someone who has kept the Sabbath and Feast days for 52 years. I know where my salvation comes and it comes solely from the death and life of Christ. But law breaking is still sin, Sabbath breaking is still sin, and misunderstanding Paul, thinking he’s against God’s law proves nothing. Paul was never against God’s law, he was against the idea that salvation, or brownie points, can be earned by law keeping. To which I 100% agree. But does that mean I can go out and steal all that I want now? Or can I go out and cheat on my wife now? So why do most Christians assume we can go out and break the Sabbath now?

    Jesus clearly said the Sabbath was made for mankind. The Sabbath will be kept in the millennium, just read Is. 66, and the Feast of Tabernacles will be kept in the millennium, read Zech. 14.

    It’s not my intent to argue with you but from your web site it’s obvious that you don’t understand why most Sabbath keepers keep the Sabbath. Sure, some are legalistic, and many use ignorant arguments, such as those who claim to keep the Sabbath because of the fourth commandment. The Ten Commandments are the words of the Old Mt. Sinai covenant and I don’t keep the Sabbath nor the Feast days because of the Old Covenant. If I did I’d have to go to Jerusalem three times a year.

    So, my main point is that your posts here do refute many of the ignorant points made by many Sabbath keepers and almost all SDA’s, but you don’t refute all arguments about Sabbath keeping.

    Before you write about the law and covenants remember one thing:

    1Ti 1:7


    The only purpose of the law is to reveal what is sin. Can something be sin one minute and not sin the next? I don’t think so. So the question is, those who think the law is unimportant, do they really understand what they are talking about? The law doesn’t save, but if we didn’t break the law we’d have no need for a savior! There can be no grace without law!

    Kevin McMillen

    1. Kevin,


      I’m glad that you realize this. The entire point of this article series is to refute the fallacious claims of Sabbatarian groups about gathering for worship on Sunday- that and nothing else. I have not attempted to discuss the validity (or lack of) regarding Sabbath keeping at all in this series. Therefore, you are absolutely correct that I haven’t refuted any arguments of that stripe. It wasn’t my intention to do so in this series.

Leave a Reply