21. What did this council, in its twenty-ninth canon, decree concerning the Sabbath and Christians who continued to observe it ?

Answer

"Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [Sabbath], but shall work on that day. . . . If, however,
they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ. "-Hefele's "History of the Councils of the
Church," Vol. II, page 316.
NOTES-Some of the further steps taken by church and state authorities in bringing about this
change may be noted as follows:"In 386, under Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, it was decreed that all litigation and business
should cease [on Sunday] . . . .
"Among the doctrines laid down in a letter of Pope Innocent 1, written
in the last year of his papacy (416), is that Saturday should be observed as a fast-day. . . .
"In 425, under Theodosius the Younger, abstinence from theatricals and the circus [on Sunday]
was enjoined. . . .
"In 538, at a council at Orleans, it was ordained that everything previously permitted on Sunday
should still be lawful; but that work at the plough, or in the vineyard, and cutting, reaping, threshing,
tilling, and hedging should be abstained from, that people might more conveniently attend church. . . *
"About 590 Pope Gregory, in a letter to the Roman people, denounced as the prophets of
Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day.' - "Law of Sunday," by
James T. Ringgold, pages 265-267.
The last paragraph of the foregoing quotation indicates that even as late as AD. 590 there were
those in the church who observed and who taught the observance of the Bible Sabbath, the seventh day.
 


What effect does obedience to the truth have?
What, therefore, did God say He would make?
Who is responsible for the present state Sunday laws of the United States?
What will be the experience of those who say in their hearts that the Lord is not soon coming?
What does the Psalmist say about the dead praising God?
Are God's people free from affliction?
What are we admonished to overcome?

Questions & Answers are from the book Bible Readings for the Home Circle