Quote:
Originally posted by clavus
A follow up:
WHY did some groups pick Saturday as the Sabbath and others pick Sunday. Did Charlemane (sp?) declare "from here on out - Sabbath is Sunday"? Was there a big meeting of Cardinals who decided it. Did some faction of the newly emerging Christian church want to set itself apart from the Jews?
How was this decision made, and who made it?
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Dear clavus,
If you are looking for the core disagreement, you should look at the make up of the early church in the first couple hundred years after Christ's crucifixion.
All scholars know and agree that the Jewish "Shabbat" is on Saturday, from sun down Friday to sun down Saturday. During the first couple of centuries when the church was mostly composed of Jews, this is when it was celebrated.
After Constantine made Christianity the official church of the Empire, the gentile Bishops of the early church called a council in Nicea (325 CE) to make decisions regarding the core beliefs of the "Christian" church. Among these were which books to include in the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity, and which day was to be officially the "Sabbath" of the Christian church.
Sunday was chosen for two reasons that I can see. First, it was the day of the Resurrection, so in a way this was a no brainer. Add to it that there was growing animosity between the Christians and the Jews (Christ killers to them) who worshipped on Saturday. Second, it would make it easier for the pagan citizens of the Empire to accept this new religion if the main worship day was the same day that they were accustomed to worshiping on.
Anyway, that is how Sunday was actually picked.
Over the years, various denominations (usually with strong anti-Catholic feelings) have decided that they should return to the orginal "Shabbat". Others are content to worship on Sunday, that being the day of the Resurrection (rather than the ancient SUN day.)
And I have already enumerated my own feelings that it probably doesn't matter.
Hope that helped
