SDA Open Letter - Did the Catholics Force Sunday Worship?

This is part 2 of my letter to the SDA leadership in Vanuatu.  I have added extra material for online viewers indicated by the blue highlights or enclosed in [square brackets]

IS IT TRUE THAT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH FORCED CHRISTIANS TO WORSHIP ON THE SUNDAY AND NOT THE SABBATH?

The SDAs published a booklet that I have read.  It is called “The Great Deception.”  (An appropriate name perhaps?) I have a copy in my library.  In that publication, many of Ellen White’s statements are made from her book, The Great Controversy.  I was interested to read in that booklet that the SDA Church (or at least Ellen G White) believes that the Roman Catholic Church forced Sunday worship on Christians and banned Sabbath worship.  As such, you say that the Pope, or the papal throne, is the Antichrist and that the Roman Catholic Church is the beast of Revelation.   

The statements in the book lead us to believe that before this initiative, by Emperor Constantine in 321AD and later Ecumenical Councils, Christians were Sabbath keepers.  I ask for you to please confirm this SDA position for me. 

The reason I ask is that I cannot find conclusive proof in the bible that proves Christians worshipping as a body of believers on the Sabbath.  I do read where Paul and the apostles regularly attended Synagogues on the Sabbath.  But was this to worship or to try to convince Jews to follow Jesus.  I believe it was to convince Jews by expounding scripture, or in the Jewish case, by quoting from the Torah, or since the mentions of Paul’s synagogue visits all happened in Asia minor, it was highly likely Paul quoted from the Greek version of the Torah at the time, the Septuagint.  One thing I do know is that worship is not practiced in synagogues.  Public worship in a synagogue breaks the Law of Moses, according to Rabbinical Interpretation.  Go to a Synagogue today and you won’t see it.  It never has and never was practiced.

Furthermore, if the Sabbath ban was placed by Constantine in 321AD, and between the age of the Apostles up until the time of Constantine they observed the Sabbath as you claim (ie, for 200 years), then how can you explain writings by the early church fathers? 

Firstly I want you to read what Constantine actually said in his famous Sunday law of March 7, 321:

Constantine the Great

"On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost."

Can you please explain to me, where in this passage is there a reference, forcing Christians to worship on the Sunday?   

The way I read this law, is that it was a civil law and not a religious law, that was to apply to all members of the Roman Empire except for agriculture. 

BONUS ADDITION NOT IN THE ORIGINAL LETTER: What will surprise many is that the seven day week and Saturday being called the SABBATH is a modern concept that did not exist in the OldTestament.  The Jewish calendar is a lunar one.  The "sabbath" days occurred on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of each month.  For example, the Passover is on the 15th (sabbath) of the Jewish month called 'Nisan.'  The jewish sabbath observation on a Saturday was for the same reason as Christians worshipping on Sunday - is was a result of Constantine's Sunday Law (above).  This is one reason why the "new moon" and "sabbath" are often mentioned together in the Old Testament.  (1Chr 23:31, 2Chr 2:4, 8:13, 31:3, Neh 10:33, Isa 1:13, Ezek 45:17, 46:1, 46:3, ) Including this very interesting one: Hosea 2:11  ​​​​​​​I will put an end to all her celebration: ​​​​​​her annual religious festivals, ​​​​​​monthly new moon celebrations, ​​​​​​and weekly Sabbath festivities – ​​​​​​all her appointed festivals.  Note also that Genesis never mentions that the sabbath days are to be counted every seven days but according to genesis 1:14: God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years,  Note the mention of seasons, days and years, but no mention of weeks!  In fact, the seven day "week" was never referenced in relation to the sabbath! More on this later. Exrapolating that rule to today, and this month the four biblical sabbaths falls on Wednesday, November's sabbaths on Saturday, and December's on Monday!

Saturnus - God of (amongst
other things) periodic renewal

I note here that Constantine did not call the first day Sunday but the Day of the Sun.  We call it Sunday but then, as Rome was essentially pagan, the days and months were named in honour of certain gods or heavenly objects, so Sunday was the Day of the Sun – Sun Day.  Now SDA leaders claim that Sunday keepers are actually bowing down and worshipping the Sun god because of this.  However, since Saturday is the Day of Saturn, and Saturn, in addition to being a planet, is also a principle god of Roman Paganism [Saturnus]. Constantine’s mother along with Constantine himself was apparently a worshipper of Saturn, so are Sabbath keepers therefore bowing down to the pagan god Saturn?  I will answer that for you.  No! I do not think for a moment that Sabbath keepers are worshipping Saturn, and so it is also true that Sunday keepers are not worshipping the Sun god either.  I will ask you some more questions first, but this “Day of the Sun” I will show does not actually mean what we think is Sunday either.

Can you explain to me why every historian worldwide knows that the pagans in Roman times never celebrated special days but the SDAs alone say they did?

They did not worship the Sun on Sunday or Saturn on Saturday or the Moon on Monday.  I can provide you with letters from the British Museum, The Smithsonian Institute and others testifying to that fact.

Can you also explain to me why the pagan practice of worshipping the Sun was only popular from AD260 to AD340 but prior to that time it was not practiced in Rome and after 340AD it died out.  Interestingly, the reason why it died out was because of the rise of Christianity.  This was because Christianity accepted women as members while sun worship (called Sol Invictus) was for men only.

I also find it interesting that Ellen G White claims, as do a vast majority of SDA leaders that the seven day week has been a universal ordinance since creation.  And yet Seventh-Day Adventist Elder W. A. Westworth, in the Battle Creek, Mich., Daily Journal, May 18, 1914 stated that when he extensively visited all of mainland China he discovered that the world’s most populous country does not observe a week nor a day they call a weekly day of rest.  Have you considered why Chinese stores in Vila are open every day?  They do not celebrate a weekly rest!  Neither do the Koreans and Japanese for that matter.  He noted that the Muslims observe Friday as a rest day and work Saturday and Sunday.  The seven day week is foreign to them.  In fact, the seven day week with one day spell is uniquely Christian and Jewish and is observed by only a third of the world’s population.

I have moved away here from the Roman context, so in bringing it back,  

can you explain to me why it is common knowledge that the seven day week was not introduced into the Roman calendar until after Roman Emperor Theodosius in the 4^th Century yet the SDA literature claims that the seven day week has always existed?  

 In fact they adopted the seven day calendar from Jewish and Christian custom who were the only groups to have used a seven day calendar. Prior to the fourth century the Romans used an eight day calendar and the Greeks a 10 day calendar.  Again I can provide proof.  So during the time of Jesus, the Apostles and Constantine, there was an eight day or 10 day cycle for one week.  I mentioned before that the Day of the Sun is not necessarily Sunday (of the first day) it is here that we find the reason why.  If the Romans used an 8 day weekly cycle then one of those days is called “Day of the Sun.”  Let us say that this is Day One.  And the first one is our Sunday.  The next “Day of the Sun” will be eight days later, or our Monday!

Can you explain why all historians are unanimous in declaring that festivals or special days of the Roman calendar are based around monthly units, not weekly ones? 

The Romans instead observed three special days a month – the Kalends (1^st day) Nones (Day 5 or 7), and the Ides (day 13 or 15), but even they were not religious events. 

Here is what a key SDA European Division leader - Elder Conradi, author of “History of the Sabbath” (1912), once said:

“A weekly rest day from work and solely dedicated to divine worship was unknown in heathenism and only known among the people of Israel." Elder L. R. Conradi, in a letter to Canright dated Hamburg, February 9, 1914

You may be interested to know that Elder Conradi resigned from the SDA leadership and separated himself from the Church over failure to prove another major SDA doctrine in 1935. 

Please explain to me why for over 100 years the SDA historians knew that there was no basis of proof for Ellen G White’s pagan Sunday concept and yet despite that, you can devote entire fortnights of crusading and produce tonnes of pamphlets and booklets testifying that?  

 I do not think that you choose to propagate lies like this to innocent people as I believe that you are actually not aware of the lies yourself.  You have been conditioned by leaders before you and live in the belief that the teachings of Ellen G White are true, when in fact, for well over 100 years they have been proven, and even declared by SDA leadership and historians, as false.  I feel sorry for you that you too have been deceived.

Did all these pagans leave their homes every Sunday and go to their temples and offer prayers? No they didn’t. They had no meetings whatever the day was, nor on any particular day of the week. On some special occasion, as a birthday, or recovery from sickness, or to avert some feared evil, or on some yearly festival, before planting, or harvest, persons would go and offer incense or gifts to the gods. That was all. There was no regular day in the week for any offerings of gifts or prayers. The Adventists have invented a regular pagan Sunday of rest and worship which never existed.

Now to change the focus a little: Also in The Great Controversy, Ellen G White dedicates several chapters to the famous reformer Martyn Luther.  This is what she says about him on page 120:

Ellen G White

“Zealous, ardent, and devoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and acknowledging no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures.”

You can see that Ellen G White held Martyn Luther in very high regard.  In fact White believed that you could not find a more devout Christian.  But what I find interesting is that Martyn Luther was strongly against Sabbath worship.  Here is what he says:

Martyn Luther

Indeed, if Carlstadt [A Sabbath keeper] were to write further about the Sabbath, Sunday would have to give way, and the Sabbath– that is to say, Saturday– must be kept holy; he would truly make us Jews in all things, and we should come to be circumcised; for that is true and cannot be denied, that he who deems it necessary to keep one law of Moses, and keeps it as the law of Moses, must deem all necessary, and keep them all.' — Heylyn, History of the Sabbath . 457.

As I have stated earlier, Ellen White’s chief historian A.N. Andrews admitted in 1859 (4 years before the SDA church was founded) that Sunday worship was widespread in the Christian church around 100AD and universal by 200AD. 

Ellen G White claims in the book The Great Controversy that the Roman Catholic Church forced Sunday worship.  This you will know is a very popular point of study with your congregation and it is one that is commonly used to frighten people into Sabbath keeping at crusades. 

However, if you study Church History you will know that the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope only became a world power about 300-500 years after the Apostle Paul’s death.  Prior to that time, the main religious power was with the Eastern Orthodox Church and not the Roman Catholic Church.  As such, it was the Eastern Orthodox Church that largely influenced Church doctrine, and practices, even overthrowing bishops of Rome that did not agree with orthodox values.  You can see evidence that the Church in the East was dominant if you look at the first Ecumenical Church Councils.  Nicaea (325AD), Laodicea (363), Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople (553) Constantinople (680 and Nicaea (787).  For over 460 years and the all the Church councils were held not in Rome but in the East – mostly in modern day Turkey.  The first Council held in Rome was in 1123AD – The Lateran Council.  Today there are 200 million Orthodox followers.

I want you to read this please.  It is written by Dean Stanley, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Oxford, in his "History of the Eastern Church."

She [the Eastern Church] is the mother, and Rome the daughter" (p 66).

"All the first founders of theology were Easterners.

Till the time of Augustine (355-430) no divine had arisen in the West; till the time of Gregory the Great (596-604) none had filled the papal chair.

The doctrine of Athanasius [the Trinity] was received, not originated, by Rome" (pp 71, 72).

This indicates how dependent Rome was for centuries on the East and how far behind the East Rome was in learning and influence. …There can be no doubt that the civilization of the Eastern Church was far higher than that of the Western" (p 76).

"The whole force and learning of early Christianity was in the East. A general council in the West would have been an absurdity. With the exception of the few writers of North Africa, there were no Latin defenders of the faith" (p 100).

The difficulty is that the Catholics have been their own worst enemy.  This is because even though the first true Roman Catholic Pope (Pope Gregory I) came to power in 596AD, the Catholic historians decided that the “Keys of Peter” had to be passed down from Peter to the next person.  They therefore decided to create a line of popes from Peter to justify their claims to be the Universal Church.  Yet no one sat on the papal throne in Rome between Peter and St Gregory.  That is for about the first 600 years of Christendom! So just like the SDA’s the Catholics too are guilty of creating their own history to fit their claims, although the retrospective honour given to the saints between Peter and Gregory causes no harm.

I am not trying to defend the Catholic faith here.  I believe that they too have some concerning errors but this is not the place to go into these.  In that regard though, you will find that there are some things that both SDAs. 

The alarming thing is that all of this “revelation” came from Ellen G White who claimed that she was shown this by God in a vision.  It is one thing to be wrong, because you didn’t study something enough or make a genuine mistake; but it is an entirely different situation if you claim that what you saw came from God Himself. (Deut 18:19; Jer 14:15, 23:25; Zech 5:4; Matt 24:5)  History proves something completely different to what Ellen’s god revealed to her. So my next questions is; 

Did Ellen White truly hear from God, her own imagination or perhaps a different spirit?

By now I may have lost some of you leaders because I have challenged your prophetess who you uphold as a true prophet.  But for those of you wish to entertain me and know more by reading further, I sincerely thank you.  Those of you who are not leaders but reading this open letter may also me interested in other questions.

[since my letter, I have spoken to a number of SDA members who simply do not believe that Ellen G White is a true prophetess and that she spoke, in their words, 'a lot of nonsense.'  There is hope after all!]

 

to be continued.... 

Interesting Fact #1- Passover (High Sabbaths )

April 14 2014 - Monday

April 3 2015 - Friday

April 22 2016 - Friday

April 10 2017 - Monday

[note not one of these Sabbath days falls on a Saturday!]

Interesting Fact #2.  The time between one new moon and the next is 29.531 days.  This is called the Synodic Month.  You can see an animation of this here. The time taken for the moon to make one orbit around the earth (ie 360 degrees) is 27.322.  This is called the Sidereal Month.  Averaging the two and you get 28.42 days, or close to four weeks.