Monday, October 27, 2025

It is the 27th of October 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Happy Monday to you, the second day of the week. Moon-day… that’s right- in Spanish “Lunes”… the day I guess devoted to the lesser light in the sky. This is your reminder that some Christians- often Puritans- wouldn’t use the common names for days or months because they were pagan.

It relates to today’s question, and my head is filled with ideas about days and how we count them. And that because of James in Winona, Minnesota, who asked, among other things, if I watch “Stranger Things” with Winona Ryder, who he tells me was born in Winona and named after the town. I do not, but my wife does. But I did read that her godfather was Timothy Leary. Wild.

James was wondering, “What does Church History teach about the Sabbath, or Lord’s Day, and how does that connect to the Seventh Day movements?” Ok- James- a good question- a big question- so first, a book I enjoyed on the topic- very readable- is from the historian Justo Gonzales- A Brief History of Sunday- from the New Testament to the New Creation. “Church History” speaks with a lot of different voices- there isn’t “an answer” but Gonzales does a good job marshaling the evidence from Church History.

Ok- there are numerous New Testament texts which refer to “the first day of the week”- Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week when we gathered together to break bread”. IN Revelation, John writes of being “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). We should note that the early Christians met on most days. And there were specific Jewish Christians who kept as much to the old practices and so kept the Sabbath (Friday sundown to Saturday Sundown- we read in Genesis that there was evening, and then morning, one day.

The Didache- that very early church document that reflected church practices (you can place it between 70 and 120 AD)- explains that “every Lord’s Day… gather yourselves together and break bread”. The letter of Barnabus, written around the same time, speaks of worshipping on the 8th Day: Sunday.

In the early church, we don’t read much about this “Lord’s Day” or 8th/1st day being a new Sabbath- it was generally understood that the Sabbath Day was part of the old covenant and replaced with Christ’s resurrection on what they called “the Lord’s Day”. It wasn’t until Constantine in the 300s and the establishment of Imperial Christianity in Rome that a day of rest- a “sabbath” was established by law and placed on the new day of worship- the Lord’s Day.

Part of what has made the conflation of the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day popular has been the question of the… err, 3rd of 4th Commandment (depending on your numbering) and what to do about it. Augustine interestingly wrote that a Christian should observe all the commandments- but not that one.

Others have pointed to a day of rest- or sabbath (Sabbath means “to cease”) predates the 10 Commandments. In fact, it predates even the fall- it’s baked into creation! And so, a day- however counted of resting has long been seen as a good Christian practice if not necessarily tied to a certain day.

John Calvin- a fan of sabbath rest- argued that it could be celebrated on any day- technically- but the churches would need to agree.  

The “Seventh Day” movements- most famously the Adventists were part of a movement we can broadly call “restorationist”- like their Protestant cousins, they thought the church had become so corrupt over time that we needed to “go back” and reexamine the texts, and this led to them abandoning some standard practices. The Adventists, especially, believed that these are the last days, and so Christians need to be called out from the apostate churches and have tended to be somewhat exclusionary of other groups. From their reading of the Old Testament, the sabbath is still intact and the last day of the week, Saturday. They also tend to have other Old Testament injunctions, like certain dietary laws. None of this makes them apostate or in serious error. The Seventh Day Adventists have historically elevated the writings of Ellen G. White, and there is some peculiar stuff in there- “soul sleep”- the dead being unconscious until the second coming. But I think calling them “eccentric Protestants” might be the best play- that is, not in the middle of the circle- “out of center” but not outside the circle.

James- I hope I gave you some things to think about- check out Gonzales’ book and be thankful that a lot of smaller churches have sanctuaries they can rent out on Sunday because of the Adventists having empty buildings on the Lord’s Day.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Psalm 142 from the Seedbed Metrical Psalter:

Listen to my cry and heed,
For I am in desperate need.


Save me from those who pursue,

They are not too strong for You;


Rescue me and hear my plea,

For they are too strong for me.

Set me from my prison free,

That my praise to You might be.


Righteous ones will gather ’round

to hear how You did confound.


They will all Your goodness see,

How You loved me bountif’ly.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 27th of October 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who won’t upload this show until after sundown- being a strict Sabbatarian, he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who admits sometimes Gillespie uploads the show after sundown because I’m running late (but never missed a show- over 2000 strong!) I’m  Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.