Sunday First Called Sabbath

There was one honor, however, still belonging to the seventh day, which Sunday had not acquired. Thus the bishop of Ely says:ChSa 125.1

“When the ancient Fathers distinguish and give proper names to the particular days of the week, they always style the Saturday, Sabbatum, the Sabbath,’ and the Sunday, or first day of the week, ‘Dominicum, the Lord’s day.’”-Treatise of the Sabbath Day, p. 202.ChSa 125.2

This statement, however, must not be taken as referring to an earlier writer than Tertullian. He first called it the Lord’s day about A. D. 200. It is doubtless true of the later Fathers. Brerewood says:ChSa 125.3

“The name of the Sabbath remained appropriated to the old Sabbath, and was never attributed to the Lord’s day, not of many hundred years after our Savior’s time.”-Learned Treatise of the Sabbath. page 73, edition 1631.ChSa 125.4

Dr. Heylyn says of the term “Sabbath” in the ancient church:ChSa 125.5

“The Saturday is called among them by no other name than that which formerly it had, the Sabbath. So that whenever for a thousand years and upwards, we meet with Sabbatum in any writer of what name so ever, it must be understood of no day but Saturday.”-History of the Sabbath, part 2, chapter 2, section 12.ChSa 125.6

Again he says:ChSa 125.7

“The first who ever used it to denote the Lord’s day (the first that I have met with in all this search) is one Petrus Alfonsus-he lived about the time that Rupertus did [which was the beginning of the twelfth century]-who calls the Lord’s day by the name of Christian Sabbath.”-Idem, part 2, chapter 5, section 13.ChSa 125.8

This is a striking fact which should never be forgotten in the investigation of this question. It was not until the middle of the Dark Ages that Sunday was ever called the Sabbath. The ancient Sabbath retained its own distinctive title for eleven hundred years after Christ, and no other day during all this period was known by this title but the seventh day. Not an instance can be found in history to the contrary.ChSa 125.9

Sunday steadily advanced in popular favor down to the beginning of the sixth century, becoming the usual day on which public meetings were held, and at least a partial rest day, but had never yet been called the Sabbath.ChSa 126.1

The next six or seven centuries from this time was an age of great barbarism and spiritual darkness. Men’s minds were controlled by the grossest superstitions. The power of the pope was almost supreme. Not one person in a hundred could read or write, and books were very few and expensive. The Bible was banished from the hands of the common people, and nearly every copy was in either Greek or Latin, languages which at this time were not spoken by the masses. Very few persons, comparatively, ever saw a Bible. During a part of this time, it was considered a great crime for a common person to be found reading the Bible, and the offense was punishment by the Inquisition.ChSa 126.2

It is not necessary that we should carefully note the steps by which Sunday attained to a higher power in such an age. We have already seen how, step by step, it stealthily advanced until that time, first asking only toleration, next claiming equality with the ancient Sabbath, and then taking a position above it as a joyous day, while the latter was made a fast day. Afterward it was called the Lord’s day of apostolic times. Finally it was advanced by heathen emperor and Roman pope to the dignity of a day of partial rest. It cast the creation Sabbath aside by Catholic counsel, declaring that all who observed it were heretics, and placed them under a curse; and lastly, it was sustained by popes, emperors, and councils, claiming the whole field as its own. From this time forward, at every convenient occasion, a Catholic council would put forth a canon in behalf of the “venerable day of the sun,” striving to make the people observe it more sacredly.ChSa 126.3