CHAPTER 14: Sabbath-keeping after the apostles (5) - The Sabbath-keepers

14.1       Introduction

Beginning in the first century, influential Christian writers started teaching changes to the Sabbath and urging believers to honour the Lord’s Day. Nevertheless, there is evidence that a significant number of Christians were still observing the Sabbath up until the end of the sixth century, albeit in tandem with the Lord’s Day. We know this to be the case because of Pope Gregory’s (AD 590–604) condemnation of those who advocated resting on the Sabbath. However, from that time onwards, it appears that there was a concerted drive on the part of the Roman Catholic Church to ensure that Sunday became the official day of rest and worship. Despite this, not all Christians abandoned Sabbath-keeping: a number of faith communities outside of the Catholic Church courageously went against the prevalent trend to uphold the Fourth Commandment.

14.2       The Celtic Church

One Christian community that kept the Sabbath day was the early Celtic Church which emerged from Ireland in the sixth century. It had a zeal for evangelism and focused its efforts on the heathen areas of Scotland and Europe. One group, led by Columban,^[1] settled on the west coast of Scotland and the islands of Hy and Iona.

Due to its detachment from Rome, it professed different doctrines and practised a simpler faith. One key difference was Sabbath-keeping. Writing about this point, Professor Andrew Lang, a church historian, notes, “They worked on Sunday, but kept Saturday in a sabbatical manner.”^[2]  Another writer, James Moffat, says, “It seems to have been customary in the Celtic churches of early times, in Ireland as well as Scotland, to keep Saturday the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of rest from labor. They obeyed the fourth commandment literally upon the seventh day of the week.”^[3] Similarly, Alexander Clarence Flick, says, “The Celts used a Latin Bible unlike the Vulgate and kept Saturday as a day of rest, with special religious services on Sunday.”^[4]

The Celtic Church went on to evangelize in Europe under the leadership of Columban from AD 612. By the time the Roman Catholic Church dispatched its emissary, Boniface, to central Europe in AD 718, it felt compelled to redress what it saw as heretical teachings and to deal with those responsible.

In Britain, the fate of the Celtic Church was sealed when Pope Gregory I sent Augustine^[5] to England in AD 597, accompanied by a group of forty monks. Their mission was to convert the Anglo-Saxons and to bring the Celtic Church under the control of Rome. When they failed to secure compliance, they expelled the monks at Iona. The Celtic Church thereafter suffered centuries of oppression and, by AD 1322, disappeared altogether.    

14.3       Other Sabbath-keepers

Apart from the early Celtic Church, there were other Sabbath-keepers from the sixth century onwards. They included the following:

•     Christians in Rome who were castigated by Pope Gregory I (sixth and seventh centuries)^[6] 

•     Christians in Italy (eighth century)^[7]

•     Christians in Bulgaria (ninth century)^[8]

•     The Nestorians (tenth century onwards)^[9]

•     Christians in Constantinople (eleventh century)^[10]

•     The Pasagians (Passagini) in Europe (twelfth and thirteenth centuries)^[11]

•     Christians in Bohemia (fourteenth century)^[12]

•     Christians in Norway (fifteenth century)^[13]

•     Those termed “conscientious and independent thinkers” in England (sixteenth century)^[14]

•     British immigrants in America, including Seventh Day Baptists (seventeenth century)^[15]

•     Abyssinians (eighteenth century)^[16]

•     Christians in Russia (Subotniki, i.e. “Sabbatarians”),^[17] China,^[18] and Seventh Day Adventists in the USA (nineteenth century).^[19]

From the twentieth century to the present time, the number of Sabbath-keeping Christians has continued to grow. According to one conservative estimate, the number of known faith groups upholding this holy day stands at 500.^[20]

14.4       Religious persecution

A distinguishing feature of those who upheld the Sabbath in the post-apostolic era was their non-conformity to the Catholic Church. This led to unfortunate consequences. Members of the Celtic Church and the Pasagians, for example, were oppressed and killed for their beliefs, and the latter became a primary target during the Medieval Inquisitions. Those arrested were subject to torture and, if deemed unrepentant, sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Those who relinquished their faith had to endure life-long imprisonment and the confiscation of property. 

1478 marked the start of the Spanish Inquisition, which lasted until 1834. It was instigated, not by the Roman papacy, but by the Spanish monarchy, which was motivated by a desire to maintain Catholic orthodoxy within their kingdoms. The Jews suffered the most: they were persecuted and forced to convert to Christianity, but were often suspected of reverting to their original faith. Hence, any Christians thought to be “judaizing” would have been prime targets for the inquisitors.

14.5       Conclusion   

From the sixth century onwards, the practice of Sabbath-keeping continued among some Christians, notably those without links to the Roman Catholic Church. However, the latter did not tolerate differences of doctrine and practice and therefore attempted either to enforce compliance or to purge the dissenters. Nevertheless, Sabbath-keeping as a custom survived over the centuries, albeit among some of the smaller faith communities. Today, there are growing numbers of enlightened Christians who uphold this holy day.

 

© January 2012 True Jesus Church.