Many of our regulations for today’s worship services comes from the Universal Church, the Catholic Church. To deny this fact is powerless futile worship. You must understand the holiness of God’s commands and why you should take heed to this truth. Will you listen to man’s traditions, or will you listen to God’s law? Is it for today or not, you decide?
Below is a list of Catholicism about the Keeping the Holy Day. Which day will you worship on – Saturday, Sunday, or Some Other Day?
Daniel 8:11-12
King James Version
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. 12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
CATHOLICISM SPEAKS ABOUT THE BIBLE SABBATH AND SUNDAY
“Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church says, No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And ho! The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the Holy Catholic Church.”–Priest Thomas Enright, CSSR, President of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, Mo., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, February 18, 1884, and printed in the Hartford Kansas Weekly Call, February 22, 1884, and the American Sentinel, a New York Roman Catholic journal in June 1893, page 173.
“Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may search the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”–James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers, 92nd ed., rev., p. 89 [Cardinal Gibbons (1834-1921) was archbishop of Baltimore. This book was the most famous Catholic book in America a hundred years ago].
“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.”–Priest Brady, in an address at Elizabeth, N.J. on March 17, 1903, reported in the Elizabeth, N.J. News of March 18, 1903.
The following statement comes from a tract written to the Protestants of England, by John Milner (1752-1826), the English Vicar Apostolic of the Roman Catholic Church. The entire tract is an appeal for Protestants to return fully to the Church of Rome:
“The first precept in the Bible, is that of sanctifying the seventh day: ‘God blessed the SEVENTH DAY, and sanctified it.’ Gen. 2:3. This precept was confirmed by God, in the Ten Commandments: ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy’. ‘The SEVENTH DAY is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.’ [Ex. 20:8-11]. On the other hand, Christ declares that he is ‘not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it.’ Matt. 5:17. He himself observed the [Seventh-day] Sabbath: ‘And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.’ Lk. 4:16. His disciples likewise observed it, after His death: ‘They rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment.’ Lk. 23:56.
“Yet, with all this weight of Scripture authority for keeping the Sabbath, or seventh day holy, Protestants, of all denominations, make this a profane day and transfer the obligation of it to the first day of the week, or the Sunday. Now what authority have they for doing this? None at all, but the unwritten Word, or Tradition of the Catholic church, which declares that the apostles made the change in honor of Christ’s resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, on that day of the week.”–John Milner, The End of Religious Controversy, in a Friendly Correspondence Between a Religious Society of Protestants, and a Roman Catholic Divine, “Letter 11, To James Brown, Esq,” 1897, p. 89.
“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. From beginning to end of scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.”– Catholic Press Sydney, Australia, August 1900.
“Is there no express commandment for the observance of the first day of the week as a Sabbath, instead of the seventh day?
“None whatever. Neither Christ nor His apostles nor the first Christians celebrated [observed] the first day of the week, instead of the seventh as the Sabbath.” –New York Weekly Tribune [Roman Catholic], May 24, 1900.
“Protestants . . . accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change . . . But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible, in observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope.”–Our Sunday Visitor, Feb. 5, 1950 [One of the largest U.S. Roman Catholic magazines].
It is worthwhile to remember that this observance of Sunday–in which after all, the only Protestant worship consists–not only has no foundation in the Bible, but it is in flagrant contradiction with its letter, which commands rest on the Sabbath, which is Saturday. It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church.”–Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, p. 213 [L.G. Segur (1820-1881), a French prelate, later was appointed as a diplomatic and judicial official in Rome].
“If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church.”–Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the Cardinal in a letter dated February 10, 1920.
“Protestants often deride the authority of Church tradition, and claim to be directed by the Bible only; yet they, too, have been guided by customs of the ancient Church, which find no warrant in the Bible, but rest on Church tradition only! A striking instance of this is the following:–The first positive command in the Decalogue is to ‘Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy,’ . . . But the Sabbath Day, the observance of which God commanded, was our Saturday. Yet who among either Catholics or Protestants, except a sect or two, ever keep that commandment now? None. Why is this? The Bible, which Protestants claim to obey exclusively, gives no authorization for the substitution of the first day of the week for the seventh. On what authority, therefore, have they done so? Plainly on the authority of that very Catholic Church which they abandoned, and whose traditions they condemn.”–John L. Stoddard, Rebuilding a Lost Faith, p. 80 [Stoddard (1850-1931) was an agnostic writer most of his life, who later was converted to Catholicism].
“The Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant.”–The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4 [This is the political weekly newspaper at the Cleveland Catholic Diocese].
“Ques. –(a) The Bible says, ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord,’ and we read in your literature that it is the only Bible Sabbath there is. Will you please explain how the Sunday observance originated? (b) Do you think the Seventh-day Adventists keep the right day?
Ans. –“If you follow the Bible alone there can be no question that you are obliged to keep Saturday holy, since that is the day especially prescribed by Almighty God to be kept holy to the Lord. In keeping Sunday, non-Catholics are simply following the practise of the Catholic Church for 1800 years, a tradition, and not a Bible ordinance. What we would like to know is: Since they deny the authority of the Church, on what grounds can they base their faith of keeping Sunday. Those who keep Saturday, like the Seventh-day Adventists, unquestionably have them by the hip in this practise. And they cannot give them any sufficient answer which would satisfy an unprejudiced mind. With the Catholics there is no difficulty about the matter. For, since we deny that the Bible is the sole rule of faith, we can fall back upon the constant practise and tradition of the Church.”–Francis George Lentz, The Question Box. 1900, p. 98-99 [Lentz, who died in 1917, was an Illinois Catholic priest].
“The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as their teacher, who can find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from the seventh to the first . . . Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.”–Catholic Mirror, September 2 and December 23, 1893 [The Catholic Mirror, a Baltimore journal was at this time the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons].
“Ques. –What Bible authority is there for changing the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week? Who gave the Pope the authority to change a command of God?
“Ans. –If the Bible is the only guide for the Christian, then the Seventh-day Adventist is right, in observing the Saturday with the Jew . . . Is it not strange that those who make the Bible their only teacher, should inconsistently follow in this matter the tradition of the Catholic Church?”–Bertrand Conway, The Question Box, 1903 ed., pp. 254-255; 1915 ed., p. 179 [Conway (1872-1959) was a Paulist father in the Catholic Church].
Q. What is the Third Commandment? [the fourth in Protestant Bibles, because the Catholic Church took out the Second Commandment–Exodus 20:4-6]
“A. The Third Commandment is: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
“Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
“A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“A. The Catholic Church, after changing the day of rest from Saturday, the seventh day of the week, to Sunday, the first day, made the third commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept as the Lord’s Day.”–Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4, p. 153.
“Ques. –How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
“Ans. –By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of [by observing it]; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.”–Priest Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, p. 58 [In 1833, Tuberville received a papal approbation–a special Vatican approval–on this book].
“Some theologians have held that God [in the Bible] likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His [Catholic] Church the power to set aside whatever day or days, she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days, as holy days.”–Vincent J. Kelly, Forbidden Sunday and Feast Day Occupations, 1943, p. 2 [Kelly, a Catholic priest, prepared this at Catholic University of America].
“Scripture and Tradition are called the remote rule of faith, because the Catholic does not base his faith directly on these sources. The proximate rule of faith is for him the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, which alone has received from God the authority to interpret infallibly the doctrines He has revealed, whether these be contained in Scripture or in Tradition . . .
“If we consulted the Bible only, we should still have to keep holy the Sabbath Day, that is, Saturday.”–John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, 1936 edition, vol. 1, p. 51 [J.J. Laux (1878-1939) was a Catholic priest, teacher, and author of many Catholic histories as well as biographies of their saints].
“Some of the truths that have been handed down to us by tradition and are not recorded in the Sacred Scriptures, are the following: That there are just seven sacraments; that there is a purgatory; that, in the new law, Sunday should be kept holy instead of the Sabbath; that infants should be baptized, and that there are precisely seventy-two books in the Bible [66 that are inspired, plus 6 apocryphal] “–Francis J. Butler, Holy Family Catechism, No. 3, p. 63 [Butler (1859 – ?) was a Catholic priest of Boston and an author of a series of catechisms].
“If you follow the Bible alone there can be no question that you are obliged to keep Saturday holy, since that is the day especially prescribed by Almighty God to be kept holy to the Lord.”–Priest F.G. Lentz, The Question Box, 1900, p. 98 [Lentz (d. 1917) was a Catholic priest and writer, based in the Illinois area].
On April 30, 1922, in the Vatican throne room, a throng of cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns, boys, and girls, who had all fallen on their knees in reverence of the one before them, were addressed from the throne by Pope Pius XI, who said: “You know that I am the Holy Father, the representative of God on the earth, the Vicar of Christ, which means I am God on the earth.”–Pope Pius Xl, quoted in The Bulwark, October, 1922, p. 104 [Pius Xl (1857-1939) was pope from 1922-1939, and was the one who signed the Treaty of the Lateran with Mussolini in 1929, whereby Vatican City was established. He consistently backed Mussolini’s policies and government until he met with military reverses] . . .
“The Pope can modify [change] the Divine Law.”–Lucius Ferraris, Ecclesiastical Dictionary [Ferraris (d. before 1763) was an Italian Catholic official of the Franciscan order, highly placed in the Church].
“We define that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff holds the primacy over the whole world.”–Philippe Labbe and Gabriel Cossart, The Most Holy Councils, vol. 13, col. 1167, on “The Council at Trent.”
“The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God. He is the divine monarch and supreme emperor, and king of kings. Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions.”–Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, vol. 6, art. “Papa II” [Ferraris (d. prior to 1763) was an Italian Catholic canonist and consultor to the Holy Office in Rome].
“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.”–Pope Leo XIII, in an encyclical letter dated June 20, 1894, The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII, p.
This is the explanation of Daniel Chapter 8 verses 11 and 12:
How can we destroy the Sanctuary of God for Ritual Traditions? God’s commands are not changeable. The truth is not a counterfeit covenant. If you do not know the New Covenant, let’s read Jeremiah 31:31-34: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Psalm 119:89
Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven.”
King James Version
The Holy Scripture Versus Traditions
In the Old and New Testaments, we don’t find any scriptures that suggested the Sabbath was changed. Where does this change take place? If it does not take place in the Holy Scriptures or through the influence of Jesus or His Apostles. Why do so many people follow Christ today by worshipping on the first day of the week?
The Apostle Paul talked about the apostasy of The Church during his time (2 Thessalonians 2:7; Acts 20: 28-30), then we can conclude it happen after the apostles passed away within the early church. It was religious powers in the Roman Catholic Church who change the times and the law, meaning the Sabbath and the Ten Commandments (Daniel 7:25). Remember the quote from the questions and answers above.
Before Emperor Constantine became a Christian in the 4th century, a group known as Gnosticism taught the religious philosophers by mixing Christianity with Paganism. At the same time, many wanted to distance themselves from Judaism.
The great historian Sozomen observed, “The people of Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week, which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria” (Socrates, Ecclesiastical History, Book 7, Chapter 19).
The proper observance of Sunday worship was made law throughout the world by divine mission. Mithraism or Sun-Worship was the official religion of the Roman Empire which offered sacrifices on the first day of each week to the sun. Constantine accepted their day of worship instead of the Christian Sabbath. Political conversion from the battle won was an omen that He should become a Christian. He declared himself Bishop of the Catholic Church and enacted the first civil law in AD 321. Four years later, Pope Sylvester officially called Sunday “the Lord’s Day.”
Was it “the Lord’s Day or a tradition of men? Worship became a day of confusion, especially since each day begins at sundown and ends at the next sundown (Leviticus 23:32), and the dark part (evening) is always first. Here are a few examples from the bible:
In John 20:19, “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, ‘Peace be unto you’.” This locked meeting does not signify any new change of worshipping God, but their disbelief of the resurrection (Mark 16:14).
In Acts 20:1, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” The meeting day didn’t change either. Saturday night was the start time, and it lasted until midnight. If it were the Sabbath, Paul wouldn’t have traveled. Remember, the Sabbath means rest day.
In 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” In the Holy Scripture, there was no meeting. A famine happened in Judea (Romans 15:26; Acts 11:26-30), and Paul wrote to the churches in Asia Minor to give by helping their fellow brethren. Sunday morning was a time to settle accounts (bills were paid).
The convenience of church leaders to included other practices, as they do today, to yoke themselves with the worldly influences -political and financial gain. Transferring the Lord’s Rest (Sabbath) for “the Lord’s Day” is more appropriate, than following the commands (law) of God. What good is it to venerate a day without including the one who gave the perpetual covenant day in the first place? We are to model His example to us (Genesis; Exodus 20:11) and teach others the difference between the two. Never attempt to change one for the other (Proverbs 30:5-6). If you do, you are changing God’s character (Malachi 3:6 and James 1:17). So, what does He say to us?
“My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” – Psalm 89:34
“I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” – Ecclesiastes 3:14
“The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” – Psalm 111:7-8
And what about the God’s law (commands)? “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” – Ezekiel 22:26
Millions of Christians are still unaware of this truth due to the Pharisees’ teaching (Matthew 15:6-9). Please do not vainly worship God. I encourage you to learn the truth of the Sabbath Day Rest. It is where regeneration in mind, body, and spirit receive what they are lacking from Him. That’s why many churches are struggling on Sunday to receive God’s presence. You and I must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). The Lord’s Day is not recognized by the Scriptures.
If Sunday is the only day you have to worship Him, by all means, do so without guilt. This article is not written to be legalistic. Only to inform that the Sabbath, just like worshipping Him, has never changed. It is HOLY always unto the Lord.
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