Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

THE ROLE OF ONTOLOGY IN THE ABANDONMENT OF THE SABBATH IN THE WRITINGS OF THE CHURCH FATHERS

A Research Paper Presented for Consideration by The Adventist Theological Society

By Karl Tsatalbasidis February 1, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS... ...................................................................................................... ii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 Background to the Problem... ........................................................................................1 Problem. .........................................................................................................................3 Purpose...........................................................................................................................3 Methodology. .................................................................................................................4 II. THE ROLE OF ONTOLOGY .............................................................................................5 The Influence of Hellenism... ........................................................................................5 Parmenides... ............................................................................................................5 Plato. ........................................................................................................................6 III. CHURCH FATHERS, THE SABBATH AND GREEK PHILOSOPHY... ........................9 Introduction. ...................................................................................................................9 Tertullian. .................................................................................................................9 Barnabas. ................................................................................................................14 Clement of Alexandria... ........................................................................................16 Augustine. ..............................................................................................................19 Summary ......................................................................................................................21 IV. CONCLUSION. .................................................................................................................23 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................26

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ANF NPNF SDABC The Ante-Nicene Fathers Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary

ii

CHAPTER ONE Introduction Background to the Problem As the memorial of creation, the Sabbath helps us to safeguard the distinction between God and the creation. Also as the culmination of the week of creation in Gen 1, the Seventh-day Sabbath is inextricably linked with time.1 A phenomenological reading of the Hebrew Scriptures, which by definition brackets out the influence of other philosophical systems in general and of Greek philosophy in particular, indicates that temporality is the ground from which God and His relationship between the cosmos and humanity are understood. Yet according to Greek philosophy eternity, which is timeless, is considered the ground. Unlike the day, the month or the year, which are based on the observation of the earth, the moon and the sun, the weekly cycle, and by implication the Sabbath, finds its origin in Scripture.2 On the whole, scholarship does not contest the origin, validity and observance of the Sabbath throughout the time period when the Hebrew Scriptures were written. However, when it comes to the New Testament the validity of the Sabbath as a day of

See SDABC 1:51 A careful study of the Hebrew manuscripts reveals that in every instance in which yom [day] is accompanied by a definite number used as an adjective, a day of 24 hours is indicated.
1

Sigve K. Tonstad, The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2009), 26-27.

worship is greatly contested since many scholars believe that the shift from Sabbath to Sunday occurred on account of the teachings of Christ and His disciples.3 There are several reasons given for the shift from Sabbath to Sunday, embracing anti-Jewish sentiment, theological, and biblical rationales as causes for the shift. In addition, there is also debate about when the shift took place. In light of this, church fathers such as Tertullian, Barnabas, Clement of Alexandria and Augustine all speak of the Sabbath, yet as a building that is no longer connected to its foundation, their writings reveal that the Sabbath has been wrenched from its connection with the seventh day. While previous studies have focused on anti-Jewish sentiment and sun worship as causes for the shift to Sunday,4 comparatively little has been done to explore the impact of Greek metaphysics on the shift from Sabbath to Sunday.5 In addition, there has not been a comparative analysis between the Greek metaphysical framework, including its impact on hermeneutics, and the writings of the aforementioned church fathers so that a determination can be made as to the influence of Greek metaphysics on their conclusions

Samuele Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday: A Historical Investigation of the Rise of Sunday Observance in Early Christianity (Rome: Pontifical Gregorian University Press, 1977), 74, 91, 102; F.F. Bruce, Commentary on the Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's, 1954), 407-408; Oscar Cullmann, Early Christian Worship (London: SCM Press, 1953), 10, 88; Jean Danilou, The Bible and Liturgy (South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1956), 243; Paul K. Jewett, The Lord's Day; a Theological Guide to the Christian Day of Worship (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's, 1971), 57; Archibald Robertson and Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1911), 384; Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians : A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's, 2000), 1321.
4 5

Bacchiocchi, 213-269.

Fernando Canale, Basic Elements of Christian Theology: Scripture Replacing Tradition (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Lithotech, 2005), 50; Tonstad, 315328. These two authors are an exception, yet neither provides a comparative analysis between Greek metaphysics and the church fathers.

about the Sabbath. Problem According to some scholars, the change from Sabbath to Sunday came as a result of i) the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, ii) anti-Jewish sentiment, and iii) sun worship. Moreover it may be assumed that the church fathers mentioned earlier simply built their understanding of the Sabbath, how it should be observed and its relationship to Sunday upon the foundation already laid down by Christ and His apostles and upon antiJewish sentiment. However the following statements from the church fathers, which will be studied in greater detail later, seem to point to Greek metaphysics as the motivation for the shift. For instance, according to Tertullian, the Seventh-day is temporary and human and is referred to in the Scriptures as your Sabbaths whereas the eternal Sabbath is referred to as My Sabbaths. Tertullian also stated that Jesus kept the Sabbath on the one hand while on the other hand he abolished it. Furthermore, Augustine concluded that creation did not take place in six literal days but rather it took place instantaneously. Hence, in light of some the church fathers statements, was the theological motivation for how they viewed the Sabbath and its relationship to Sunday based upon the teachings of Christ and His apostles, anti-Jewish sentiment and sun worship or upon Greek metaphysics? Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze how the Greek philosophical view of ontology affected the early churchs understanding of the Sabbath commandment.

Methodology The second chapter will begin by looking at ontology and how Greek philosophers from Parmenides to Plato have interpreted it. After defining and interpreting ontology, it will also be important to see how ontology is related to cosmology since the Sabbath itself is inextricably linked to time. The third chapter will examine certain statements by Tertullian, Barnabas, Clement of Alexandria, and Augustine in light of the Greek metaphysical framework in order to examine the extent to which these church fathers were theologically motivated by Greek thought. The fourth and final chapter will provide the conclusion to the study.

CHAPTER TWO The Role of Ontology The Influence of Hellenism Hellenism had already posed a formidable philosophical challenge around the time when Christianity came into existence. Greek concepts constituted the air which people breathed and the ground upon which they walked. They also formed the conceptual framework in which they did their thinking.6 The most influential philosopher who made the greatest impact on early Christianity was Plato. John Dillon outlines how his two-tiered cosmology was not only preserved and modified, but also how leading Christian theologians appropriated it.7 Parmenides Notwithstanding, Plato had assumed and built upon a very powerful idea that began with the Milesian philosopher Parmenides. It was Parmenides who first began to clearly articulate about ontology, which is concerned with the proper understanding of reality. Parmenides (540-470 B.C.) seems to be the first philosopher to examine the

6 7

Tonstad, 316.

John M. Dillon, The Middle Platonists 80 B.C. To A.D. 220, Rev ed. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996).

nature of being.8 Parmenides begins with what he takes to be a self-evident truth: IT IS. This is not an empirical claim not one derived from observation rather it is a truth of Reason. It cannot be denied without self-contradiction. If you say, IT IS NOT (i.e., nothing exists), then youve proved that IT IS; for if nothing exists, its not nothing, rather it is something.9 Being or reality has been interpreted by Parmenides as timelessness. However, although the word timelessness does not seem to appear in Parmenides writings, there is evidence that ultimate being is timeless.10 In philosophical and theological discussion the idea of timelessness takes on a technical meaning: it is the conception that reality in general and God in particular are essentially and necessarily voided of, and incompatible with, time and space. Consequently, a timeless conception of reality necessarily eliminates from the realm of genuine reality anything that may be considered as historical or analogical to what we call history.11 Plato Parmenides idea of being had a profound effect on both Plato and Aristotle who built their systems on that concept. As a matter of fact, Platos two-world theory is a development of Parmenides idea of being. Plato decided that reality as a whole is made up of two tiers or worlds, one heavenly and the other earthly. Realities in the heavenly

R. Gulley, Systematic Theology: Prolegomena (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2003), 4. Donald Palmer, Looking at Philosophy , 2nd ed. (Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1994), 25.
10 11 9

8Norman

Gulley, 4.

Fernando Canale, Back to Revelation - Inspiration (New York: University Press of America, 2001), 37.

world are uncreated, and therefore timeless and eternal, whereas realities in the earthly world are created, and are therefore temporal and transient. The relationship between the heavenly and earthly tiers is one of duplication.12 In other words, things in the earthly tier are merely a duplication of what exists in the heavenly timeless tier. Everything within the earthly tier is limited, transitory, subject to decay, evil and sinful where as the heavenly tier is eternal, timeless, pure and good. Platos influence has been so enormous that the eminent British-American philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once said that the history of philosophy is merely a series of footnotes to Plato.13 As we shall see this influence shaped Judaism as well as Christianity. Through a process that took several centuries, Platos two-worlds theory came to shape how Christian theology understood nature and supernature. The two-worlds interpretation influenced not only Christianity, but also Judaism. Jewish theologian Philo of Alexandria adopted this view and used it as a hermeneutical tool to interpret the Old Testament and to develop his own teachings. By the time of Augustine, Christian theology had claimed for itself the basic outline of Platos cosmology.14 At this point, it should be noted that the acceptance of these theories formulates an overall system which then sets the groundwork for reinterpreting everything else including the Sabbath. Since the Sabbath is associated with time, which is viewed as part of the earthly tier, it can no longer be the ground upon which worship is based since the

Fernando Canale, The Cognitive Principle of Christian Theology (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Lithotech, 2005), 91.
13 14

12

Palmer, 67. Canale, The Cognitive Principle of Christian Theology , 92.

earthly tier is grounded in, and duplicates the heavenly tier. Also, since time and timelessness cannot co-exist in the heavenly tier and since the earthly duplicates the heavenly eternal timeless tier, the end result is that the Sabbath has been replaced as the ground for worship by Platos two-worlds theory. According to Tonstad, this Platonic framework is so far reaching that it becomes part of the fabric of Christianity to the extent that not until the twentieth century, if then, would theologians appreciate the Churchs accommodation of Platonism as an irreconcilable difference.15 Furthermore, with respect to the Sabbath, Hellenism does not only represent a challenge but also, at least in the non-Jewish context, an irreconcilable difference.16 This framework forms the basic understanding of some of the statements of the church fathers regarding the Sabbath, its validity, its observance and the justification for Sunday. A comprehensive overview of the church fathers would go well beyond the scope of this paper; hence this study will look at some of their statements with this Greek philosophical framework in mind.

15 16

Tonstad, 322. Ibid., 316.

CHAPTER THREE Church Fathers, the Sabbath and Greek Philosophy Introduction The Sabbath has always been the ground upon which worship is based because it helps to keep in mind the great distinction between the Creator and the creation. Within such a system there is no qualitative difference between eternity and time. However, the interpretation of ontology as timeless poses a very serious threat to the grounding role of the Sabbath precisely because of the unbridgeable chasm between eternity and time. In this Platonic system time is the reduplication of eternity, and the result is that the Sabbath loses its grounding role. Before analyzing the specific statements of the church fathers mentioned above, an examination of their attitude toward philosophy will prove helpful in ascertaining how far reaching the effects of Greek philosophy proved to be, even to those who rejected it for use in apologetics. Tertullian The church fathers in this study do not always share the same attitude about the relationship between philosophy and theology. Tertullian (145-220) was a brilliant

lawyer who along with Augustine had a great influence on the Latin Church.17 Tertullian was actually appalled at the extent to which some of his contemporaries were using Greek philosophies such as Platonism and Stoicism to explain Christian ideas to pagan audiences.18 In his Prescription Against Heretics, he rhetorically asks, What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church?19 Nevertheless, in spite of his negative attitude about the use of Greek concepts in apologetics, he ends up assuming them in his description of the Trinity against Praxeas, which proved to be one of his most important theological contributions.20 In his discussion about the Sabbath, Tertullian distinguishes between the seventh-day Sabbath, which he interprets as temporal and the eternal Sabbath, which is interpreted as divine. The Sabbath issue and its relation to Greek philosophy can easily be seen in Tertullians distinction between the eternal versus the temporal Sabbath. He states, We (Christians) understand that we still more ought to observe a Sabbath from all servile work always, and not only every seventh day, but through all time. And through this arises the question for us, what Sabbath God willed us to keep? For the Scriptures point to a Sabbath eternal and a Sabbath temporal. For Isaiah the prophet says, Your Sabbaths my soul hateth; and in another place he says, My Sabbaths ye

17 18

ANF 3:3

Roger E. Olson, The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform (Downer's Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press Academic, 1999), 54.
19 20

ANF 3:269

ANF 3:633-634; Olson, 95. Olson states, After all his fussing against philosophical speculation in theology, Tertullian ended up assuming a very Greek philosophical notion of divine being very much like Clement of Alexandrias! In fact, their basic concepts of Gods nature as simple, immutable and impassible are strikingly similar and derived more from Greek culture and philosophical theology than from Hebrew or apostolic teachings about God. [Thus] some of Tertullians assumptions and arguments seem to have been based more on Greek philosophy than on divine revelation. P g 97-98

10

have profaned.21 Whence we discern that the temporal Sabbath is human, and the eternal Sabbath is accounted divine. Thus, therefore, before this temporal Sabbath, there was withal an eternal Sabbath foreshown and foretold; just as before the carnal circumcision there was withal a spiritual circumcision foreshown. Manifest accordingly it is, that the precept was not eternal nor spiritual, but temporary, 22 which would one day cease. Whence it is manifest that the force of such precepts was temporary, and respected the necessity of present circumstances; and that it was not with a view to its observance in perpetuity that God formerly gave them such a law.23 When viewed under the influence of Platos two-worlds theory there is a difference between the eternal and the temporal in Tertullians observation about the Sabbath. Platoused the word aion [eternity] in the technical philosophical sense of timelessness.24 Thus the divine Sabbath, referred to as my Sabbaths is regarded as eternal and spiritual which is interpreted in a timeless sense while the seventh-day Sabbath under the same philosophical system is viewed as i) temporal, because it would one day cease and was not perpetual and ii) as belonging to the Jews because its your Sabbaths. This philosophical system blinded Tertullian from distinguishing between the perpetuity of the seventh-day Sabbath and the ceremonial Sabbaths in Lev 23:37-38 as the basis for the Scriptures that spoke of my Sabbaths and your Sabbaths. The same system also leads Tertullian to justify his division between the human and divine Sabbath by looking to circumcision which according to even the Old Testament Scriptures pointed forward to a spiritual circumcision of the heart (Deut 30:6) that would fulfilled by the death of Christ on the cross (Col 2:11). While this works for circumcision, there is no

21 22 23 24

This is not said by Isaiah; it is found in substance in Ezek 22:8 Or, temporal. ANF 3:155, 156 Canale, Basic Elements of Christian Theology: Scripture Replacing Tradition , 58.

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place that one can point to in the Bible to justify the kind of distinction between the eternal and temporal Sabbath that Tertullian has referred to under the influence of Greek philosophy. The Sabbath that God instituted at creation, which is kept today, and the Sabbaths that will be kept in eternity assume the biblical notion of time and not the Greek notion of timelessness. The acceptance Platos system always leads to an ontological separation between the heavenly and the earthly, and between eternity and time. This presuppositional structure is what is revealed in Tertullians sharp distinction between the eternal and the temporal Sabbath. Under this same system, the impact on the ethical aspects of Sabbath keeping is clear. The human seventh-day Sabbath need not be kept according to a day because its temporary. Thus, the necessity of present circumstances is a determining factor regarding how one keeps the human Sabbath. Perhaps Platos two-worlds theory may also explain why Tertullian on the one hand states that Jesus did not rescind the Sabbath but rather kept it while on the other hand he states that God did destroy the very institution He set up. He says, thus Christ did not at all rescind the Sabbath: He kept the law thereof, and both in the former case did a work which was beneficial to the life of His disciples, for He indulged them with the relief of food when they were hungry, and in the present instance cured the withered hand; in each case intimating by facts, I came not to destroy, the law, but to fulfill it.25 This seems clear, but the same man also said this: Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years the Sabbaths, I suppose, and the preparations, and the fasts, and the high days. For the cessation of even these,
25

ANF 3:363-364

12

no less than of circumcision, was appointed by the Creators decrees, who had said by Isaiah, Your new moons, and your Sabbaths, and your high days I cannot bear; your fasting, and feasts, and ceremonies my soul hateth; also by Amos, I hate, I despise your feast-days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies; and again by Hosea, I will cause to cease all her mirth, and her feast-days, and her Sabbaths, and her new moons, and all her solemn assemblies. The institutions which He set up Himself, you ask, did He then destroy? Yes, rather than any other.26 J.N. Andrews may be correct by stating, Tertullian was a double minded man.27 However if one analyzes these statements within the prevailing Platonic system described earlier, then theres a strange kind of harmony because as was stated before, there is a heavenly Sabbath understood on timeless principles which would be the one that Jesus kept, while the earthly temporal Sabbath is the one that He destroyed. Furthermore, when Tertullian stated that Jesus did not rescind the Sabbath, he did not state that His reason for doing so was that the Sabbath was grounded in the biblical notion of time but rather Jesus kept the eternal, heavenly Sabbath by relieving the hungry and curing those who had diseases. His emphasis seems more on what Jesus did rather than on the day that He did it, which would make sense if one has adopted Platonic philosophy as the main hermeneutical system. In as much as the Sabbath is also inextricably linked with liturgical practices, the severing of the Sabbath from the seventh-day also led to such liturgical changes as the celebration of Sunday as a day of festivity. One of those changes was that kneeling was
26 27

ANF 3:436

J.N. Andrews, History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week , 3rd, revised ed. (Battle Creek, MI: Review and Herald, 1887), 308-309.

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prohibited on the Lords day. Tertullian states, We count fasting or kneeling in worship on the Lords day to be unlawful. We rejoice in the same privilege also from Easter to Whitsunday.28 Peter of Alexandria also says something similar. But the Lords day we celebrate as a day of joy, because on it He rose again, on which day we have received it for a custom not even to bow the knee.29 In addition to this, Sunday was also to be regarded as a day of festivity. Tertullian states, we make Sunday a day of festivity. What then? Do you do less than this? 30 Regarding this question, J.N. Andrews states, His language is very extraordinary when it is considered that he was addressing heathen. It seems that Sunday as a Christian festival was so similar to the festival which these heathen observed that he challenged them to show wherein the Christians went further than did these heathen whom he here addressed.31 Besides Tertullian, Andrews mentions, The Epistle of Barnabas, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origin, Cyprian, Peter of Alexandria, and the writer of the Syriac Documents concerning Edessa as stating the festive nature of the Lords day. 32 Barnabas In contrast to Tertullians attitude about the use of philosophy in apologetics, the Epistle of Barnabas written in Alexandria around 100 AD33 represents the first document of the young Alexandrine school of theology which has been characterized by Neo-

28 29 30 31 32 33

ANF 3:94 ANF 6:278 ANF 3:123 Andrews, 289. Ibid., 284-295. ANF 1:133

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Platonism. Furthermore, the epistles allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament is based upon the Jewish Alexandrine philosopher Philo,34 who stated that a six day creation, or creation in a space of time at all, is really quite foolish.35 In the following paragraph, when the words pure and sanctify are viewed from the same Platonic presuppositions, the negative implications for Sabbath observance become clear. In actuality, the authors main objective in the 15th chapter of the epistle was to void the Sabbath.36 Moreover, He says, Thou shalt sanctify it [the Sabbath] with pure hands and a pure heart. If, therefore, anyone can now sanctify the day which God hath sanctified, except he is pure in heart in all things, we are deceived. Behold, therefore: certainly then one properly resting sanctifies it, when we ourselves, having received the promise, wickedness no longer existing, and all things having been made new by the Lord, shall be able to work righteousness. Then we shall be able to sanctify it, having been first sanctified ourselves. Further, He says to them, Your new moons and your Sabbath I cannot endure. Ye perceive how He speaks: Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens.37 When viewed from Platos two-worlds theory, purity and holiness are characteristics that are not compatible with the present age in which we live because purity and holiness exist in the timeless tier while we exist in the temporal tier. Its clear that it is only at the second coming of Christ that we are going to be made pure and holy

Justo Gonzlez, From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon , A History of Christian Thought , vol. 1 (Nashville, TN: Abindgon Press, 1987), 94. H.A. Wolfson, Philo; Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam , 2 vols. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948), 1:120. William H. Shea, "The Sabbath in the Epistle of Barnabas," Andrews University Seminary Studies 4 (1966): 172.
37 36 35

34

ANF 1:146-147

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because then we will have entered into the timeless realm. The writer of the epistle assumes that there is a divine Sabbath and an earthly Sabbath and anyone attempting to keep the earthly temporal Sabbath is doing something that God will not accept. First, the seventh-day Sabbath is earthly and temporal, and second we are sinful and unholy and we must wait until we enter into eternity so that we can become sanctified and thus keep the divine Sabbath.38 Thus Greek philosophys timeless ontology affects not only the Sabbath in this epistle but it also has an effect on our interpretations of purity and holiness which are inextricably linked with the doctrine of man. By this time Clement of Rome had already declared that Peter and Paul had entered into glory, 39 which means that the immortality of the soul was assumed. This doctrine declares that while the soul is immaterial and timeless, the body is temporal, sinful and subject to decay. Thus the only way that the Sabbath can be kept is by the soul being released from the body either at death or at the Second Coming of Jesus. Clement of Alexandria Clement was originally a pagan philosopher. The date of his birth is unknown. It is also uncertain whether Alexandria or Athens was his birthplace. He is supposed to have died about A.D. 220.40 If Tertullian represented those who decried the spoiling of the Egyptians by using Greek philosophy in order to explain the gospel, then Clement represents those who saw the best of Greek thought, such as the philosophies of Socrates
S. Lowy, "The Confutation of Judaism in the Epistle of Barnabas," in Early Christianity and Judaism , ed. Everett Ferguson(New York: Garland Publishing, 1993), 323.
39 40 38

ANF 1:6 ANF 2:166-167

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and Plato, as preparation for the gospel and as a useful tool in the hands of skillful Christian thinkers.41 In the following passage, Clement links the Lords day to Plato. And the Lords day Plato prophetically speaks of in the tenth book of the Republic, in these words: And when seven days have passed to each of them in the meadow, on the eighth they are to set out and arrive in four days. By the meadow is to be understood the fixed sphere, as being a mild and genial spot, and the locality of the pious; and by the seven days each motion of the seven planets, and the whole practical art which speeds to the end of rest. But after the wandering orbs the journey leads to heaven, that is, to the eighth motion and day. And he says that souls are gone on the fourth day, pointing out the passage through the four elements. But the seventh day is recognized as sacred, not by the Hebrews only, but also by the Greeks; according to which the whole world of all animals and plants revolve.42 J.N. Andrews' analysis of this passage demonstrates how Greek philosophical concepts governed the early church fathers understanding of not only the Sabbath but also of the Lords day by stating that these were not literal days. Though Clement says that Plato speaks of the Lords day, it is certain that he does not understand him to speak of literal days nor of a literal meadow. On the contrary, he interprets the meadow to represent the fixed sphere, as being a mild and genial spot, and the locality of the pious; which must refer to the future inheritance. The seven days are not so many literal days, but they represent each motion of the seven planets, and the whole practical art which speeds to the end of rest. This seems to represent the present period of labor which is to end in the rest of the saints; for he adds: but after the wandering orbs [represented by Platos seven days] the journey leads to heaven, that is, to the eighth motion and day. The seven days, therefore, do here represent the period of the Christians pilgrimage, and the eighth day of which Clement here speaks is not Sunday, but heaven itself! Here is the first instance of Lords day as a name for the eighth day, but this eighth day is a mystical one and means, heaven!43 Once the Platonic system is adopted, the interpreter begins with the heavenly tier because everything is grounded there. With this understanding in mind it becomes easier

41 42 43

Olson, 84. ANF 2:469 Andrews, 221.

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to grasp how the church fathers like Clement can place a mystical construction upon passages that should be interpreted in a literal sense because meaning does not arise from the earthly, the literal or the temporal but rather from the eternal, the mystical and the spiritual. Clement also believed that the Lords day should be kept by abstaining from evil practices rather than meeting on a specific day and at a specific place. He, in fulfillment of the precept, according to the Gospel, keeps the Lords day, when he abandons an evil disposition, and assumes that of the Gnostic, glorifying the Lords resurrection in himself.44 The acceptance of Platonic presuppositions has replaced the Sabbath as the ground of worship by switching to the Lords day. However as J.N. Andrews points out, the Lords day at this time does not point to any one day of the week. From this statement [referring to Clement] we learn, not merely his idea of fasting, but also that of celebrating the Lords day, and glorifying the resurrection of Christ. This, according to Clement, does not consist in paying special honors to Sunday, but in abandoning an evil disposition, and in assuming that of the Gnostic, a Christian sect to which he belonged. Now it is plain that this kind of Lords day observance pertains to no one day of the week, but embraces the entire life of the Christian. Clements Lords day was not a literal, but a mystical day, embracing, according to this, his second use of the term, the entire regenerate life of the Christian; and according to his first use of the term, embracing also the future life in heaven.45 Furthermore, worship need not occur at any specific place or time. Regarding Gnostic worship Clement says that they do not worship on special days, as some others, but doing this continually in our whole life, and in every way. Certainly the elect race justified by the precept says, Seven times a day have I praised Thee. Whence not in a specified place, or selected temple, or at certain festivals and on appointed days, but

44 45

ANF 2:545 Andrews, 222.

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during his whole life.46 Later on Sunday was recognized as the Lords day but it was not kept like the Sabbath. Augustine Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is without a doubt, one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time. According to Justo Gonzlez, Augustine is the end of one era as well as the beginning of another. He is the last of the ancient Christian writers, and the forerunner of medieval theology. The main currents of ancient theology converged in him, and from him flow the rivers, not only of medieval scholasticism, but also of sixteenth-century Protestant theology.47 His relationship with philosophy is more like that of Clement rather than Tertullian. He freely drew on Platonic thought in his argumentation against Manichaeism.48 The quotation below delineates his view of creation. And I looked attentively to find whether seven or eight times Thou sawest that Thy works were good, when they were pleasing unto Thee; but in Thy seeing I found no times, by which I might understand that thou sawest so often what Thou madest. And I said, O Lord,! Is not this Thy Scripture true, since Thou art true, and being Truth hast set it forth? Why, then, dost Thou say unto me that in thy seeing there are no times, while this Thy Scripture telleth me that what Thou madest each day, Thou sawest to be good; and when I counted them I found how often? Unto these things Thou repliest unto me, for Thou art my God, and with strong voice tellest unto Thy servant in his inner ear, bursting through my deafness, and crying, O man, that which My Scripture saith, I say; and yet doth that speak in time; but time has no reference to My Word, because My Word existeth in equal eternity with Myself. Thus those things which ye see through My Spirit, I see, just as those things which ye

46 47

ANF 2:532

Justo Gonzlez, From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation , A History of Christian Thought , vol. 2 (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1987), 15.
48

Olson, 263.

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speak through My Spirit, I speak. And so when ye see those things in time, I see them not in time; as when ye speak them in time, I speak them not in time.49 For Augustine its clear that creation did not take place in seven literal days, where God did something on the first day and then proceeded to go on from there. This is clear in Canales analysis of Augustines theology: Augustine was convinced that God cannot act in the future-present-past sequence of time as Scripture presents all divine activities. Instead he followed Parmenides, Plato, and Aristotles imaginative construction of a God whose reality is necessarily timeless and spaceless.50 With this in mind we can look at how Augustine understood the creation Sabbath. O Lord God, grant Thy peace unto us, for Thou hast supplied us with all things,the peace of rest, the peace of the Sabbath, which hath no evening. For all this most beautiful order of things, very good (all their courses being finished), is to pass away, for in them there was morning and evening. But the seventh day is without any evening, nor hath it any setting, because Thou hast sanctified it to an everlasting continuance that that which Thou didst after Thy works, which were very good, resting on the seventh day, although in unbroken rest Thou madest them that the voice of Thy Book may speak beforehand unto us, that we also after our works (therefore very good, because Thou hast given them unto us) may repose in Thee also in the Sabbath of eternal life.51 When the Platonic system is in control, it acts as a hermeneutical guide, which means that according to Augustine the creation Sabbath does not refer to a day, since it hath no evening. It only has meaning within the context of eternal life, which is understood to be in harmony with timeless concepts. Furthermore, Augustine states that the seventh day Sabbath should not be kept by any Christian,52 and elsewhere he states

49 50 51 52

NPNF 1:205 Canale, Basic Elements of Christian Theology: Scripture Replacing Tradition, 49. NPNF 1:207 NPNF 5:136

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that it should be observed spiritually by abstaining from sin.53 This system was also assumed by Thomas Aquinas, and became the hermeneutical key that led him to make a distinction between the moral and the ceremonial aspects of the Sabbath. Aquinas states that the precept of the Sabbath observance is moral in one respect, in so far as it commands man to give some time to the things of God, according to Ps. 45:11: Be still and see that I am God. In this respect it is placed among the precepts of the Decalogue: but not as to the fixing of the time, in which respect it is a ceremonial precept.54 Thus for Augustine and Aquinas, the Sabbath is not grounded in the day but in the Platonic understanding of reality which then becomes the hermeneutical key for dividing the moral from the ceremonial aspect of the Sabbath. This division becomes non-existent when the Sabbath is grounded upon time. Summary It should be kept in mind that the purpose of this chapter was to demonstrate the cause and effect results of Platos two-worlds theory regarding how the early church fathers viewed the Sabbath, the Lords day, and the changes that occurred in liturgical practices. Since the heavenly tier of Platos theory is timeless, eternal, good and pure, it becomes the overarching system which guides the early church fathers to ultimately abandon the seventh-day Sabbath which according to that system belonged to the earthly, temporal, sinful tier. This system also guided them to accept the eighth day which was also known as

53 54

NPNF 7:136

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica , trans., The Fathers of the English Dominican Province, 3 vols. (New York: Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1947), 1:1039.

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the Lords day. It should be kept in mind however that this day was originally kept not by the observance of a specific day, in a specific location but it was to be kept as abstaining from sin throughout a persons entire life. Furthermore the absence of kneeling and fasting on the Lords day was also connected to the resurrection and to the heathen festivals. In Canales assessment, the introduction of Greek philosophical concepts that were assumed by the early church fathers had a role to play in the change from Sabbath to Sunday. As Christians began to see God and heaven as spiritual, non-temporal realities, historical realities slowly lost their relevance for the community of faith. By the beginning of the fourth century, Christian theologians viewed divine, human and heavenly realities not as material or temporal, but as immaterial and spiritual. Temporal changes did not affect spiritual ones. This view of reality clearly paved the way for changing the day of worship and rejecting Jewish Christians from the community of faith. Thus when Constantine faced the fact that religion was dividing his empire, he found no theological barrier preventing him from changing the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday.55

55

Canale, Basic Elements of Christian Theology: Scripture Replacing Tradition, 50.

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CHAPTER FOUR Conclusion Regarding the impact of Greek metaphysics on the loss of the Sabbath, Tonstad states: It is in the context of the swirling current of Hellenistic influences that the Sabbath is lost. The stream of this influence is subterranean in the sense that it is easier to make the case for the reality of profound change than to describe its nature. We are left to map out the course of the stream on the basis of where it appears from the surface to where it emerges again in broad daylight. Looking at the subject from the vantage point of portfolios of meaning, the seventh day does not fit into the Platonic negative perception of the material world.56 The primary cause for the loss of the Sabbath is the timeless interpretation of ontology within Platos two -tiered cosmology which made up the conceptual framework from which the church fathers constructed their theology. As with other doctrines, this framework had a profound effect on the conclusions of the church fathers on the Sabbath. Tertullian does not state the effect of the Greek philosophical framework on his clear distinction between the eternal, timeless Sabbath and the human temporal Sabbath because he is clearly opposed to using that kind of framework in defending the gospel. Nevertheless, his conclusions can only be explained by assuming the very framework he is trying to get others to abandon since that kind of distinction between the eternal Sabbath and the temporal Sabbath is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. The Greek

56

Tonstad, 323-324.

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framework also helps to explain why Tertullian stated that Jesus kept the Sabbath on the one hand, while on the other hand God destroyed it as an institution. In this context Jesus kept the Sabbath relieving the hungry and healing the diseased, not necessarily by resting between sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Barnabas concludes that since keeping the Sabbath holy requires us to be holy, no one in this present age can actually keep the Sabbath holy because purity of heart and sanctification ultimately occur in the world made new. As a result we can only keep the Sabbath in eternity but as for now we ought to keep the eighth day. Thus Barnabas maintains the distinction between the timeless Sabbath and the temporal Sabbath. According to Clement, neither the Sabbath nor the Lords day should be understood as literal days. Furthermore when it comes to liturgical practices, the Lords day should be divorced from worshipping at specified times and places. Rather, it should be observed throughout a persons whole life. In addition, those who truly observe the Lords day are those who abandon an evil disposition. Augustines distinction between eternity and time ultimately leads him to conclude that the creation week did not occur in six days followed by the seventh day. Rather creation was a timeless act since Gods word only has reference to eternity and not to time, thereby nullifying the Sabbath commandment. Furthermore, since time is considered to be the reduplication of eternity, the Sabbath as a twenty-four hour time period can no longer be considered as the ultimate ground of reality and worship because that ground is provided by the timeless interpretation of reality. Thus, the Sabbath is i) divorced of its link with time, ii) no longer obligatory and relevant as a day of worship from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, and iii) is merely

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associated with ethical issues and not ontological issues. These underlying philosophical presuppositions provided the Church Fathers in this study with the theological justification for the shift from Sabbath to Sunday. Since the issue of Sabbath and Sunday is inextricably linked with ontology, the shift should not be viewed simply as a change of days but rather as a major theological change, which affects not only the doctrine of the Sabbath but also anthropology and cosmology.

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Bibliography Andrews, J.N. History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week. 3rd, revised ed. Battle Creek, MI: Review and Herald, 1887. Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. Translated by The Fathers of the English Dominican Province. 3 vols. New York: Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1947. Augustine. "The Confessions of St. Augustine." In The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, edited by Philip Schaff. 14 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1988. Bacchiocchi, Samuele. From Sabbath to Sunday: A Historical Investigation of the Rise of Sunday Observance in Early Christianity. Rome: Pontifical Gregorian University Press, 1977. Bruce, F.F. Commentary on the Book of Acts. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's, 1954. Canale, Fernando. Back to Revelation - Inspiration. New York: University Press of America, 2001. ________. Basic Elements of Christian Theology: Scripture Replacing Tradition. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Lithotech, 2005. ________. The Cognitive Principle of Christian Theology. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Lithotech, 2005. Clement. "The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. ________. "Introductory Note to Clement of Alexandria." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. ________. "The Stromata, or Miscellanies." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. Cullmann, Oscar. Early Christian Worship. London: SCM Press, 1953.

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Danilou, Jean. The Bible and Liturgy. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1956. Dillon, John M. The Middle Platonists 80 B.C. To A.D. 220. Rev ed. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996. "The Epistle of Barnabas." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. Gonzlez, Justo. From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation. Vol. 2 A History of Christian Thought. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1987. ________. From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon. Vol. 1 A History of Christian Thought. Nashville, TN: Abindgon Press, 1987. Gulley, Norman R. Systematic Theology: Prolegomena. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2003. "Introductory Note to the Epistle of Barnabas." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. Jewett, Paul K. The Lord's Day; a Theological Guide to the Christian Day of Worship. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's, 1971. Lowy, S. "The Confutation of Judaism in the Epistle of Barnabas." In Early Christianity and Judaism, edited by Everett Ferguson. New York: Garland Publishing, 1993. Olson, Roger E. The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform. Downer's Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press Academic, 1999. Palmer, Donald. Looking at Philosophy. 2nd ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1994. Peter. "The Canonical Epistle." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. Robertson, Archibald, and Alfred Plummer. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1911. Shea, William H. "The Sabbath in the Epistle of Barnabas." Andrews University Seminary Studies, no. 4 (1966): 149-175.

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Tertullian. "Ad Nationes." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. ________. "An Answer to the Jews." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. ________. "The Chaplet, or De Corona." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. ________. "Tertullian against Marcion." In The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's 1989. Thiselton, Anthony C. The First Epistle to the Corinthians : A Commentary on the Greek Text. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman's, 2000. Tonstad, Sigve K. The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2009. Wolfson, H.A. Philo; Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 2 vols. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948.

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