Are Christians who meet together to worship God on Sunday deceived? Historically, the Adventist church has answered this question in the affirmative. “Sunday-worshipers”, as they are often labeled by Adventists, are obviously misled because they ignore God’s clear command to worship on Saturday, citing the Fourth Commandment as evidence (Exodus 20:8-11). And if those who worship on Sunday are deceived, someone must be guilty of promoting this deception. As such, it is perhaps not surprising to see an Adventist conclude that Christians who believe the Fourth Commandment supports Sunday “Sabbath” observance are guilty of promoting great deception. This is sadly the conclusion of a recent Adventist Review article by journalist Mark Kellner entitled “The Lure of Sabbath Deception”.

The stimulus for Kellner’s article was a sermon series he heard on the radio by Alistair Begg, pastor of Parkside Church near Cleveland, Ohio. In this series, Begg argued for a continuing role of the Old Testament Sabbath for Christians. Because Christians worship together on Sunday, Begg belives the Sabbath principle should continue to apply to this day. To an Adventist, Begg’s teaching is part of the great deception about the Sabbath that has been promoted in Christianity since the fourth century rule of the Roman emperor Constantine. Adventist prophetess Ellen White claimed that Christians would one day be tested on their loyalty to God on the basis of their day of worship—those who worship on Saturday will be eligible for heaven while those who worship on Sunday will not.

Kellner revives this Adventist teaching in his criticism of Begg. “So how did [Begg] move from dogmatic insistence on honoring the fourth commandment to an about-face on the God-specified day?” Begg’s answer, of course, is that the day of worship was changed from Saturday to Sunday in the first century as a result of Jesus’ Sunday resurrection. Striking at the heart of Adventism’s view of early Christian history, Begg stated that Constantine did not change the day of worship 300 years after Christ’s death, but merely endorsed a widespread and long-standing Christian practice. Kellner, obviously not moved by this argument but providing no evidence of his own, writes, “Such assertions, however, lack much in the way of actual historical proof...”. Nevermind that over one hundred years earlier, former Adventist preacher D.M. Canright provided ample historical evidence to support Begg’s conclusions.

Not surprisingly, Begg reported receiving harsh criticism of his position from Adventists, some even accusing him of not being a Christian. Kellner casts doubt over the truthfulness of Begg’s account, saying, “...there’s little way of proving that such a charge was made”. Perhaps Kellner chose his words poorly, but the way the article reads, Begg’s honesty is at least implicitly questioned. Kellner proceeds to counter the Adventist criticism of Begg by citing the Adventist fundamental belief statement that “the universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ.”

While Kellner is willing to give Begg the title of “Christian” with the one hand, he endeavors to take it away with the other. “To be sure, God will hold responsible those who don’t keep the Bible Sabbath when it is plainly revealed that Sundaykeeping is a counterfeit. But to multiple millions—and even perhaps to Alistair Begg himself—there is justification for ignoring the Bible’s clear command, at least for now.” It is left to the reader to decide whether Begg is really a Christian, but we can be sure that if he has ignored the Bible’s “clear command”, he will be “held responsible” for his actions. For those who know the Adventist version of end-time events, the underlying message is fairly obvious. If Begg rejects the teaching of God’s Word about the Sabbath when it becomes “plainly revealed”, he will receive the mark of the beast. The only hope is that God will not make Sunday “plainly revealed” as a “counterfeit” during his lifetime so that Begg won’t be held accountable for accepting Satan’s false Sabbath and receive his mark.

Turning his attention toward other Christian teachers, Kellner presses home his point. “...there is an added level of concern now—a lure, if you will, of deception about the Sabbath.” Listing a group of Christian authors who have written about the Sabbath as it applies to Sunday, Kellner claims that a great deception is unfolding before our eyes. Satan is using these Christian authors to lure more people into false Sabbath worship so that apparently, more people will be lost by receiving his mark. In a sarcastic tone, Kellner singles out the noted Christian author Marva Dawn. “The lures posed by radio expounders such as Begg, Tony Evans of the Urban Alternative, and some Christian authors—including Marva Dawn (author of several books on ‘keeping Sabbath’ without keeping the Sabbath)—appear to be that one can freely choose how to observe a commandment of God without adhering to what God dictates.” Using the same logic, an orthodox Jew could just as easily include Kellner among a list of authors who write about the Sabbath without actually keeping it the way God prescribed. One wonders what Kellner does with the very clear list of commands God gave to the Israelites about how the Sabbath was to be observed, much less the commands to observe festivals and holy days.

Concluding the article, Kellner leaves his audience with the take-home message. What are we to do with this growing evangelical Christian interest in Sabbath—interest that is clothed in the world’s greatest deception? “The opportunity for Adventists, in their words and in their living witness, is to present Sabbath, and Sabbathkeeping, as not only delightful, but attractive. It may surprise many to see who shows up when we treat the Sabbath as a true delight, and share that delight with the world.” The centerpiece of Adventist evangelism is here on vivid display—it is all about the Sabbath. Non-Christians and Christians alike need this precious message, because without it, they may stand condemned. If the Sabbath is made attractive enough, people will begin to realize that they should be keeping it and thereby avoid God’s condemnation.

It’s tragic, but what’s missing from all of this is Jesus. If only Adventists had the same zeal for converting people to Christ that they have for converting them to a day of worship. Sadly, the most precious message of Christianity has been replaced in Adventism by the worship of a day. The day was never meant to be the object of worship or the dividing line between believers, but a sign pointing the way to Jesus, who deserves all worship. “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17, see also Romans 14:5-6) The apostle Paul’s teaching is straightforward. All who would divide the body of Christ over a day of worship have missed his point. While Christians hold fast to the substance of Christ, Adventists continue to direct people to his shadow and in so doing, risk missing the Savior who can redeem them from their sin, even their sin of imperfect Sabbath-keeping.

Greg,

I confess that I had not yet read such a short article about the problems of the sabbatarianism as it is practiced by the SDA Church which is right to the point as your article is. The issue is not who has the right view of the sabbath, if it is Sunday or Saturday, the issue is if, according to their own standards, Adventists will pass their own tests which they use in evaluating and condemning those who worship on Sunday.

Even if for the sake of argument, we will concede that those who are worshiping on Sunday are wrong, the Saturday Adventist sabbatarian is equally wrong according to his own standards, practicing deception both regarding the history of the Christian Church on the subject of the Sunday worship, and also deceiving his members regarding their status of sabbath-keepers. The Adventist’ author wants his readers to feel safe, to feel that they are the faithful followers of God’s word, when they refuse to keep the sabbath as God’s word commands. He thinks that God will judge him according to a different standard than He will judge the “Babilonian Sunday keeper” next door, and He will grade on a curve, accepting his sabbath keeping performed according to his personal preferences, not according to God’s regulations.

He will have a surprise.

My scholar Adventist friend said me one day that God’s judgment of his people, not of unbelievers, is mixed with grace. It’s not strictly justice, but it is a combination of justice and grace.

He will have a big surprise too.

Gabriel

Greg,

Interesting points made in your opening post, several of which could make for lively discussion.  This seems to be a topic that many are passionate about. 

Frankly, I have often wondered whose version of Sabbath-keeping is good enough to meet the righteous demands of a holy and just God and it provided a source of anxiety for me as an SDA.  I was told that Sabbath-keeping would be the endtime test of loyalty to God yet all around me everyone seemed to be “keeping” it in their own way.

Thanks for your post.

Aaron

It is unfortunate that Alistair Begg tries to make a “principle” out of an Old Covenant ritual law with its weekly shewbread bread and double sacrificing requirements.  I have written to him about his Sunday sabbatarian stance, but I never received a personal reply from him.  Indeed, we are not authorized to make “principles” out of OT ceremonial laws. I know of no Adventist who would repudiate that the Sabbath shewbread pointed to Jesus, the Bread of Life.  Moreover, I know of no Adventist who would repudiate that the additional Sabbath sacrificing pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Therefore, even our Adventist friends clearly see the shadow or ceremonial elements in the fourth commandment.  Let us continue to pray that many will further see the festal Sabbath as pointing to Jesus, the true Sabbath Rest.

Resting in Him,

Dennis Fischer

Administrator - 15 August 2008 12:27 PM

Striking at the heart of Adventism’s view of early Christian history, Begg stated that Constantine did not change the day of worship 300 years after Christ’s death, but merely endorsed a widespread and long-standing Christian practice. Kellner, obviously not moved by this argument but providing no evidence of his own, writes, “Such assertions, however, lack much in the way of actual historical proof...”. Nevermind that over one hundred years earlier, former Adventist preacher D.M. Canright provided ample historical evidence to support Begg’s conclusions.

The SDA Church practice a massive fraud in rewriting the history of the Christian Church in the first centuries. They make all possible to place the abandonment of Saturday sabbath-keeping after Constantine or in last part of the second century in order to attribute the motivation for the change to apostasy.  Of course, a change in the first century, which happened without stirring controversy is fatal for the sabbatarian position because it proves that the apostolic church didn’t consider the Saturday Sabbath to be of sufficient importance in order to defend it against the attack of supposedly adversaries of faith.

In order to give credibility for a change without open conflict, the Adventist is placing the change in the last part of the second century at least in order to imply that the change was without much agitation because the Church suffered a massive apostasy. Of course, the Christian Church faced the danger of apostasy even in the first century, which is highlighted by the disputes around circumcision and the Council of Jerusalem, and in the epistles which warned against the spirit of antichrist already present. What becomes evident is that even if at such an early age the presence of apostasy was manifested in the Church, the Church itself was not in apostasy. The leadership of the Church fought apostasy everywhere it appears, and a supposedly apostasy in keeping the Saturday sabbath would not occur without public opposition and fight from the leadership of the Church. But the historic truth is that it had not been any controversy in which the leadership of the Church fought for sabbath keeping.

Gabriel

Dennis,

Even though I don’t agree with Alistair Begg on his Sunday Sabbatarianism, he is a terrific expositor of scripture. I don’t think his position on this is the real point.

It is the continued revisionist history of the SDA church that is the bad guy in all this.

Adventists are trying to find a Sunday law “Bogey man” under every bush, or in this case trying to make evangelicals who have a great respect for the law of God, (such as Begg) as almost equivalent to the antichrist.

Stan

Dennis,

Gabriel and Stan are making the same point I intended to make in focusing on Kellner’s article. While I am not a sabbatarian, my conscience and reading of Romans 14:5-6 tells me that I must not judge a brother for holding one day above another. While Alistair Begg teaches that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath, nowhere will you find him making this doctrine the dividing line between true and false Christians or between those who will or will not receive the mark of the beast.

Kellner is merely repackaging historic Adventist theology and is using the teachings of a godly Christian expositor as a tool to strike fear into the hearts of his audience. He subtly implies that men like Begg are being used by Satan to lure people away from true Christianity by getting them to worship on the wrong day. While I disagree with the sabbatarian theology of both Kellner and Begg, I believe Kellner is committing a far greater error in assigning a demonic motive to Begg’s work. What’s more, I am disturbed that Kellner purposely casts doubt over Begg’s account of receiving angry letters from Adventists about his Sunday sabbatarian position. Kellner shows his true colors and the true focus of the Adventist Review to keep people wrapped up in theological distinctives that set them apart from the body of Christ. While we are commanded in Scripture to “be convinced” about elevating one day above another (Romans 14:5-6), we are simultaneously admonished not to judge our brother if he comes to a different conclusion. Kellner and the Adventist church are in clear violation of this biblical command.

The point of history is also important, because much of Saturday sabbatarian teaching rests on the idea that Constantine changed the day of worship in the fourth century, hundreds of years after Jesus’ ascension. Even the Adventist apologist Samuele Bacchiocchi now contradicts the teaching of historic Adventism and Ellen White on this point.  Kellner ignores this in his article and without offering any historical evidence of his own, criticizes Begg for his lack of historical support that the day of worship was changed in apostolic times. Kellner is a journalist who should know better than to make such bold accusations without first examining the evidence.

Here is what Bacchiocchi said in one of his newsletters. Bacchiocchi is widely considered to be one of the foremost apologists for Saturday sabbatarianism and has written several books on the subject. It is my understanding that after he wrote these words, many of his faithful readers criticized him because he called Ellen White’s teaching about Constantine changing the day of worship into question. While I disagree with much of what he writes, I must give Bacchiocchi credit on this issue, because he did not simply repeat the Adventist party line for the sake of keeping everyone happy. Maybe Kellner can learn something from him.

Surprisingly even some of our leading evangelists believe, on the basis of Ellen White’s statements, that Sundaykeeping began in the early part of the fourth when church leaders urged Constantine to promulgate in 321 the famous Sunday Law.

This popular view has exposed our Church to much undesirable criticism. Non-SDA scholars and church leaders like Dr. James Kennedy, accuse our church of plain ignorance, by teaching that Sundaykeeping began in the fourth century, when there are irrefutable historical evidences that place its origin two centuries earlier.

I have spent countless hours explaining to Dr. James Kennedy and to professors who viewed the recent NET satellite programs, that this popular Adventist view is not reflective of Adventist scholarship. No Adventist scholar has ever taught or written that Sunday observance began in the fourth century with Constantine. A compelling proof is the symposium The Sabbath in Scripture and History, produced by 22 Adventist scholars and published by the Review and Herald in 1982. None of the Adventist scholars who contributed to this symposium ever suggest that Sundaykeeping began in the fourth century.

The earliest documents mentioning Sunday worship go back to Barnabas in 135 and Justin Martyr in 150. Thus, it is evident that Sunday worship was already established by the middle of the second century. This means that to be historically accurate the term “centuries” should be changed to the singular “century.” This simple correction would enhance the credibility of The Great Controversy, because it is relatively easy to defend general Sabbath observance during the first century, but it is impossible to do it for the second century.

Source here.

Greg

Greg and Stan,

Another contention I have with Alistair Begg is his preaching that tithing is binding upon all Christians.  As a staunch covenantalist, he sees the New Covenant as merely a warmed-over Old Covenant (akin to Adventism).  I am not agreeing with Kellner’s article in the Adventist Review in any manner.  Adventist apologists have intentionally and repeatedly misinterpreted Christian history--notably in regard to the Lord’s day.

I find Dr. Samuele Bacchiocci’s statement as a stunning admission of the falsity of SDA eschatology.  Furthermore, Dr. Bacchiocci rightly expresses his concern about Ellen White’s omission of the Islamic factor in her eschatology.  Obviously, Ellen White was obsessed with the anti-Catholicisim that was rampant in the nineteenth century.  She saw no danger lurking ahead in regard to Islam.  Oh well, what more can we expect from a false prophetess?

Admittedly, I have been blessed by some of Alistair Begg’s sermons as well.  Indeed, we are not authorized to make “principles” out of Old Covenant ritual laws.  In regard to tithing, the truth is that the Gospel breeds generosity wherever it takes root.  Christians no longer yearn for the obsolete laws of Moses to finance the Great Commission.

Dennis Fischer

In the August 21,2008 Adventist Review Monte Sahlin reviewed a new book:

People today are more interested in the experience of the Sabbath than they are its history and theology.  People with no Adventist background whatsoever have listened to a brief description of what actually happens on a typical Sabbath and immediately volunteer to become Sabbathkeepers.  It appeals to many contemporary needs!

A new book by Mary-Ellen Colon focuses on how to keep the Sabbath.  It is titled From Sundown to Sundown and was released this summer at camp meetings by Pacific Press Publishing Association.  Colon collected input from a large number of Adventists all over the world, most of them average church members in the pews.  She is realistic, practical, relentless in mining out the materials from Scripture and Adventist heritage that will help you and your family deal with all the conflicting ideas out there and find a way to really enjoy the Sabbath.

There is wonderful material here for a small group study or midweek meeting series.  The 12 chapters each end with discussion questions.  I cannot think of any question or problem related to Sabbathkeeping that I’ve heard in more than 35 years as a pastor that is not covered in this book, yet it is filled with Christ-centered grace.

I recommend a specific plan of action to get maximum mileage out of this powerful tool:  Do a 12-week small group or seminar study of the book, then encourage everyone to invite interested friends to a Sabbath retreat that is planned especially to highlight the richness and blessing of the concept.  Let people learn by tasting.  You can get this book from your Adventist Book Center…

How great it would be to one day open the Review and read a suggestion to do a 12-week study on the finished work of Christ, our true Sabbath rest.

Greg - 17 August 2008 07:09 AM

Here is what Bacchiocchi said in one of his newsletters. Bacchiocchi is widely considered to be one of the foremost apologists for Saturday sabbatarianism and has written several books on the subject. It is my understanding that after he wrote these words, many of his faithful readers criticized him because he called Ellen White’s teaching about Constantine changing the day of worship into question. While I disagree with much of what he writes, I must give Bacchiocchi credit on this issue, because he did not simply repeat the Adventist party line for the sake of keeping everyone happy. Maybe Kellner can learn something from him.

I will assume that either Kellner is not aware or disagrees with Bacchiochhi’s position regarding an earlier date for changing the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday, for the sake of argument, and see if it is consistent with the classic Adventist interpretation of Daniel 7 on the same subject. The particular text referring to this change is verses 24, 25

As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. Daniel 7:24,25

The Adventist view speaks of the period between 538-1798 as the dominance of the Papacy in which the medieval Roman-Catholic Church was doing the activities of the little horn: blasphemy, persecution of the saint for 1260 days (time, times and half a time), and attempt to change the times and the law. However in the adventist understanding, even in the traditional understanding with which Kellner seems to agree, place the last feature, the changing of time and law, the changing of the day of worship in the days of Constantine, two hundred years earlier than the moment when the little horn arise by conquering the three kingdoms before it. From a chronological point of view, the horn speaks blasphemous works, and persecute the saints for a time, times, and half a time, and attempts to change the law, only AFTER the three horns are plucked up by the roots.

I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. Daniel 7;8

The question is: why the part of attempting the change of times and law is placed long before the apparition on the horn? Where in the text there is a hint that this activity should be seen as separate in time from the other two, blasphemy and persecution? I don’t see nowhere in the text any hint that this is the case, rather I see it as another proof that eisegesis is practiced in order to defend the conception of a conspiracy regarding the sabbath in the Christian Church. See for yourself and compare Kellner’s accusations with what it transpires from his unwillingness to deal even with his internal contradictions in his church’s interpretation about the change of the day of worship.

Gabriel

I thought that the weekly sabbath was for resting and do no work . Isn’t that a change in the porpose of the sabbath making it a day of worship instead of just rest from labor?  I just wondered if someone had an answer. Dave

Biblonly - 08 November 2008 06:38 PM

I thought that the weekly sabbath was for resting and do no work . Isn’t that a change in the porpose of the sabbath making it a day of worship instead of just rest from labor?  I just wondered if someone had an answer. Dave

It depends upon what is meant by ‘holy’.

Ex. 20:8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

It is the Sabbath of the Lord

“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 
But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God”