Book: From Sabbath to Sunday

A Historical Investigation of the Rise of Sunday Observance in Early Christianity

What are the Biblical and historical reasons for Sunday-keeping? Can the Sabbath commandment be rightly invoked to enjoin Sunday observance? How can the pressing prob lem of widespread profanation of the Lord's Day be solved?

Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi answers these and other questions by investigating the Biblical basis and the historical genesis of Sunday observance. Following the order of redemptive history, he begins his investigation with the Messianic typology of the Sabbath of the Old Testament and proceeds to consider how the Sabbath found fulfillment in the redemptive mission of Christ. Be examining the Sabbath material of the Gospels it is shown how Christ made the Sabbath the fitting symbol of His redemption: A day to commemorate the divine blessings of salvation, especially by expressing kindness and mercy toward others.

The investigation shows that the adoption of Sunday in place of the Sabbath did not occur in the primitive Church of Jerusalem by virtue of apostolic authority, but approximately a century later in the Church of Rome. An interplay of Jewish, pagan and Christian factors contributed to the abandonment of the Sabbath and adoption of Sunday observance instead.