Why do some Christians observe the Sabbath on Sunday?
The Christians during the apostolic era (basically the first century, from about 35 to 100 A.D.) kept Sabbath on the seventh day of the week, more or less what we now call Saturday. (More or less” because the Bible Sabbath begins and ends at sundown whereas Saturday begins and ends at midnight). For the first 300 years of Christian history, the Christian religion was an illegal religion, but Judaism was a legal religion. During the apostolic era, Christians found it convenient to let the Roman authorities think of them as Jews. Sabbath observance is quite visible. Thus, during those early years of Christianity observance of Sabbath helped the Christians to be identified with Judaism, which gained them legitimacy with the Roman government. However, the Jews rebelled against Rome, and the Romans put down their rebellion by destroying Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and again in 135 A.D. Obviously, the Roman government’s suppression of the Jews made it increasingly uncomfortable for Christians to be
Related Questions
- If Sunday is the first day of the week, and sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday is the Sabbath and should be kept holy, then why do Christians worship on Sunday?
- Why do Messianics observe the Sabbath when First-Century Jewish followers of Yeshua/Jesus worshiped on Sunday?
- Why do some Christians observe the Sabbath on Sunday?
