Someone has sent me a little pamphlet containing some statements concerning this question; and inasmuch as the subject is one of general interest, and the Present Truth and editor are specially referred to, we may have a little chat about it in this private corner.
The writer says that if there has ever been any change, "of course the date when it took place must be easily ascertained;" and then he proceeds to name several different dates, which he claims have been set forth by Sabbath-keepers as the time when the change occurred.
He says that one writer says it was done by Constantine in 321 AD; that another claims that it was done in 360 AD, at the Council of Laodicea; that still another fixes upon 537 AD as the exact time; and that the editor of Present Truth sometimes gives one and sometimes another of these dates, and "sometimes mixes two of the above-mentioned historical events together, as if they were contemporaneous."
Now it is of very little importance to ascertain what anybody teaches about anything; all that it is necessary for us to know is, "What is the truth?" regardless of what anybody thinks about it. But we will take occasion to say this; that if any reader of Present Truth will point out the place where the editor has mentioned any date whatever as the exact time when the Sabbath was changed, the editor will at once make public apology for his error.
The editor's opinions are of no consequence whatever; but in a pamphlet published at this office, entitled, Origin of Sunday Observance, [Editor's note: I'm not sure which pamphlet Waggoner is referring to, but there is a book of about 100 pages that Waggoner wrote titled, Sunday: The Origin of Its Observance in the Christian Church, which is available on our website.] he has given the facts about the case, in the words of observers of the first day of the week; and a perusal of this little volume will repay any seeker after truth.
Let us now enter upon a systematic, though necessarily brief, consideration of the question on its merits.
1. A Change Was Made
In the first place, it is so well-known and so universally admitted that the first day of the week was not the original Sabbath, that almost everyone who speaks or writes in favor of Sunday observance mentions the fact of the "change." Some attempt to give a reason for the change, and others say that the fact that the change has been made is sufficient evidence that it ought to have been done.
2. Who Authorized the Change?
This therefore opens up the questions, "What day was originally the Sabbath?" "Who instituted it?" and, "Who authorized any change?"
These questions are easily answered. The fourth commandment tells us that: "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God," (Exodus 20:10) and that in it we are not to do our own work, "For in six days the Lord made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:11)
That this day, set apart by God himself, is not the day now generally observed, is demonstrated in every land by the presence of the Jews. To them "were committed the oracles of God," (Romans 3:2) and when Jesus came He recognized the day which they were observing as the Sabbath, calling himself its Lord; they observe the same day still, and it is the day known as Saturday, and not the one commonly called Sunday.
Two of the three questions are here answered; the third remains. Who authorized any change?
3. Is the Change Legal?
This brings home forcibly to us that the essential thing is not, "When was the Sabbath changed?" nor, "Who changed it?" but, "Is there any authority or command for a change?"
And it must be borne in mind that a change in any law must be by the same authority that instituted it, or by some one having equal authority; and, moreover the change must be as definitely stated, and as widely published as the original law.
4. No Evidence Found
But there is no other power equal to God, and His Word will be searched in vain for any statement that He ever changed His law of rest. He spoke His law from the mountain-top, in tones that shook the whole earth; and the event was one of such importance that all the angels attended Him. To that awful day there will be no parallel until the same voice shakes not only the earth but also heaven, at the second coming of Christ. There is therefore no possibility of any change ever having been made in the day of the Sabbath by Divine authority; and this being the case, it is of no consequence whatever who presumed to make a change, or when it was done. Christ declared: "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." (Luke 16:17)
5. No Change Possible
As a matter of fact, no change has ever been made in the Sabbath, for that is impossible. The text last quoted shows this. "Whatsoever God does, it shall be for ever." (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
The Sabbath is the same as it was "from the beginning;" (2 Peter 3:4) but men's customs have changed.
6. A Man-made Change
The question therefore resolves itself into this, "When did men begin to depart from the Lord, and to ignore His commandments?"
That can be paralleled by the following: "When did men begin to make and worship images? When did Christians begin to offer prayers for the dead? When was 'infant baptism' first practiced?" etc.
Shall we say that if any change has been made we must of course be able to name the exact date when it occurred? The absurdity of that is apparent. We know that there was a time when all the inhabitants of the earth "knew God, and that they did not glorify Him as God, neither were thankful,...and that their foolish heart was darkened," (Romans 1:21) until they "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." (Romans 1:23)
But nobody supposes that there was a certain day or month, or even a certain year, in which the people unitedly and formally resolved to turn from God, and worship idols.
• No Baptist can name any date as the exact time when sprinkling was substituted for baptism; yet every churchman knows that immersion was the original practice.
• No one can tell when prayers for the dead began to be offered in Christian churches.
• The greater portion of those who now call themselves Christians, believe and teach that a priest has power to convert a piece of bread into the very being of God; all Protestants repudiate this as a gross departure from the truth as taught by Christ and the apostles; yet no man can point to the exact date when the change took place.
The Beginning of Apostasy
Apostasy does not come that way. No man drops in one day from perfect faith to gross error; much less do multitudes of people apostatize all at the same time. Error is insidious in its working, and the people who fall away are rarely conscious that any change is taking place in them. Indeed, the apostate church most vigorously claims to have the true, original faith, and stamps all others as heretics.
So it was with regard to the Sabbath. It is readily admitted that Sunday was by many observed instead of the Sabbath before Constantine was born. But even if it could be shown by unimpeachable testimony that it was observed as early as the time of the Apostle Paul, that would not make it right. The question concerning even "the church" is not, "What did it do?" but, "What ought it to have done? Were its acts in harmony with the Word of God?"
The "mystery of iniquity" was working in Paul's day, (2 Thessalonians 2:7) but that does not justify the existence of the Papacy. Here is something to think of: The Papacy does exist today, and has existed for hundreds of years; but the teaching of Christ and the apostles was as far from popery as light is from darkness; yet no man can tell when the Papacy began in the church. Its beginning was when the spirit of self-exaltation crept into the church; but this naturally was at first only among scattered individuals, and so did not attract general notice.
In 3 John 9-10, we read of a manifestation of it in a church to which the apostle wrote; but it was not till some years later that that spirit became general in the church. Because we cannot tell just when there were more people in the church who ignored the Word than there were who lived by its teachings, has there never been any apostasy?
Here is a thing that anybody may verify for himself if he will: No matter how early you find historical reference to Sunday keeping, you can find mention of image worship and prayers for the dead still earlier.
Did the Papacy, then, institute the change that has taken place with respect to Sabbath observance? It certainly did. When? This question can be answered when it is found out when the Papacy began to exist. For let it be understood that the Papacy is nothing else but the setting aside of the precepts of the Bible for the opinions and practices of men; therefore the gradual change with regard to Sabbath-keeping, baptism, etc., was the growth of the Papacy; and the full development of the Papacy was the triumph of apostasy in the church.
A Blessed Rest
If it be asked, "What difference does it make whether one observes the seventh day or the first day?"
We must for the present be content with the brief answer, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)
That is sufficient. When God has spoken, man has no business to ask, "What difference does it make?"
But whoever will hear and obey will speedily experience, to his inexpressible joy, that it does make a difference.
Peace is not a feeling, but a condition. Let it be settled forever that God has naught against the sinner. He is for every soul. But man is in rebellion against God. And, "There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked." (Isaiah 57:21)
But when the wicked man comes to Christ, gives up his own way, and will, and surrenders all, then there is peace. The poor soul, in darkness for years, may not realize this, yet it is true. Peace has its feeling, and that is blessed rest. He who takes hold of God's strength, and makes peace with Him, will find the rest which Christ alone can give.--Present Truth, January 30, 1902.