Seventh-day Adventists claim that the weekly Sabbath was changed by Rome and needs to be restored.

This idea was first made popular by Ellen G. White and the early founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. [1] And yet, everything Ellen G. White and the Seventh-day Adventist Church says about the so-called change of the Sabbath is a lie!

Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, a Seventh-day Adventist Historian and Theologian, proved that Ellen G. White lied about who changed the Sabbath, and when!

Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, one of the Seventh-day Adventist’s top scholars, wrote in an E-mail message to the “Free Catholic Mailing List” on February 8, 1997 and said:

“I differ from Ellen White, for example, on the origin of Sunday. She teaches that in the first centuries, all Christians observed the Sabbath, and it was largely through the efforts of Constantine that Sunday-keeping was adopted by many Christians in the fourth century. My research shows otherwise. If you read my essay “HOW DID SUNDAY-KEEPING BEGIN,” which summarizes my dissertation, you will notice that I place the origin of Sunday-keeping by the time of Emperor Hadrian in A. D. 135.”

Bacchiocchi could not find one quote from the early church fathers that said the early church kept the Sabbath.

No pope was around in AD 321 to change the Sabbath.

Ellen G. White, who is considered inspired by Seventh-day Adventists, said that the Pope changed the Sabbath in about AD 321. Why do all Adventists today reject their inspired prophet and say the change of the Sabbath occurred in about AD 140? If White was wrong about this, was she wrong when she traveled to heaven and saw the 4th commandment glowing brighter than all the rest?

If the current position of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is that the change from Saturday to Sunday took place in AD 140, doesn’t that mean that they have come a long way from Ellen Whites AD 321 prediction and have only 40 more years to travel to reach the truth of the Apostolic age?

If the change from Saturday to Sunday happened, why is there absolutely no discussion of this change of actual day for the first 600 years of church history? Merely calling Sunday the Sabbath doesn’t count!

If Sabbatarians reject White’s inspiration, that Constantine changed the Sabbath day to Sunday, why do they keep bringing Constantine up as proof? If Constantine changed the Sabbath to Sunday, why does he merely legislate that work must stop on Sunday with no actual mention of the day being moved?

What is problematic is the impression many people get from Ellen G. White’s statements that the Sabbath was observed “by all Christians . . . in the first centuries” until “the early part of the fourth century [when] the emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public holiday.” (pp. 52-53) … 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.’” — End Time Issues, #87.

More from Ellen G. White:

“It was on behalf of Sunday that popery first asserted its arrogant claims; and its first resort to the power of the state was to compel the observance of Sunday as the ‘Lord’s Day.’” — Great Controversy, page 447.

“Royal edicts, general councils, and church ordinances sustained by secular power were the steps by which the pagan festival [day of the Sun] attained its position of honor in the Christian world.” — Great Controversy, page 574.

Dr. Bacchiocchi’s rebuttal:

“Both statements just cited are inaccurate, because the secular power of the state did not influence or compel Christians to adopt Sunday during the second and third centuries. At that time the Roman emperors were rather hostile toward Christianity. They were more interested to suppress Christianity than to support church leaders in their promotion of Sunday worship. The bishop of Rome could not have resorted to “the power of the state to compel the observance of Sunday as ‘the Lord’s Day.’” Eventually, beginning with the fourth century, some Roman emperors actively supported the agenda of the church, but this was long after the establishment of Sunday observance.” — End Time Issues, #87.

Dr. Bacchiocchi was presenting a more realistic view of the history of Sunday observance than Ellen G. White did.

No educated historian takes the claim that the pope changed the Sabbath seriously.

The fact is that Sunday was kept by Christians long before Sylvester, long before Constantine.

Ignatius of Antioch, AD 107: let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days of the week. (Epistle to the Magnesians, chapter 9. Ante-Nicene Fathers, volume 1, page 62-63)

The Epistle of Barnabas, AD 70-120: Wherefore we Christians keep the eighth day for joy, on which also Jesus arose from the dead and when he appeared ascended into heaven. (The Epistle of Barnabas, section 15, Ante-Nicene Fathers, volume 1, page 147)

Justin Martyr, AD 150: But Sunday is the day on which we hold our common assembly, because it is the first day of the week and Jesus our saviour on the same day rose from the dead. (First apology of Justin, Chapter 68)

As Dr. Bacchiocchi points out in his End Time Issues, #87:

“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.”

Historians and Theologians of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have never denied that Christians came together for worship on the First day of the week as early as the second century.

This Pope Sylvester thing is a rather desperate attempt to salvage a claim that should have been abandoned long ago. All it does today is make people laugh at those who suggest it, and when those who believe it realize they have been duped, they will realize that the whole system is based on such misinformation. I didn’t think that this is what Adventism wants … but for some, their traditions seem more important than admitting the facts and moving on to a more productive Christianity.”

More from Ellen G. White:

“I saw that the Sabbath commandment was not nailed to the cross. If it was, the other nine commandments were; and we are at liberty to break them all, as well as to break the fourth. I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for He never changes. But the pope had changed it from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times and laws [Daniel 7:25]”. — Ellen G. White, A word to the Little Flock, page 18, paragraph 3, and Early Writings, page 32, paragraph 3.

“The pope has changed the day of rest from the seventh to the first day.” — Ellen G. White, Early Writings, page 65.

Ellen White was confused! She later wrote that the papacy began in A. D. 538.

“The 1260 years of papal supremacy began with the establishment of the papacy in A. D. 538, and would therefore terminate on 1798.” — Great Controversy, page 266, 1888 edition.

“This period, as stated in the preceding chapters, began with the establishment of the papacy, A. D. 538, and terminated in 1798. At that time, when the papacy was abolished and the pope was made captive by the French army, the papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled, ‘He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.” — Great Controversy, page 439, 1888 edition.

Ellen G. White lied and said that the pope changed the Sabbath in AD 325. When that was proven to be false, she changed her comments and said that it was Constantine who changed the Sabbath. Constantine’s own edict proves that he did no such thing. Now many SDAs in their Revelation Seminars are saying it was changed by Roman Christians around AD 325.” [2]

Nothing the Seventh-day Adventist Church and their prophet, Ellen G. White, say about the change of the Sabbath is true!

When did the Christian Church change from keeping the Sabbath to worshipping on Sunday?

“No specific names or dates are associated with the church’s shift from observing the holy day on Saturday to observing it on Sunday. At first, especially when many Christians were converted Jews, their holy day was Saturday. However, because the Resurrection and the beginning of Creation had both occurred on the first day of the week (Sunday), the church soon observed that day instead. (More Gentiles were becoming Christians as well, which contributed to a desire to shake off Jewish customs.) By the end of the first century, Sunday worship was the norm. We can assume the change caused some friction, for in Colossians 2:16 Paul admonishes, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.”

It’s important to note that the Sabbath was not simply moved; Christians altered the observance as well as the day. Hallmarks of the early Christian “Lord’s day” celebration, according to Justin Martyr (ca. 100-ca. 165), included readings from Scripture (particularly the Gospels), a sermon, communal prayer, and Communion—very different from Jewish Sabbath observance. By Jewish standards, Christians don’t keep the Sabbath at all.” [3]

Are the Old Covenant Sabbath laws binding on Christians today?

I believe the Old Testament regulations governing Sabbath observances are ceremonial, not moral, aspects of the law. As such, they are no longer in force but have passed away along with the sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood, and all other aspects of Moses’ law that prefigured Christ. Here are the reasons we hold this view.

1. “In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul explicitly refers to the Sabbath as a shadow of Christ, which is no longer binding since the substance (Christ) has come. It is quite clear in those verses that the weekly Sabbath is in view. The phrase “a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day” refers to the annual, monthly, and weekly holy days of the Jewish calendar (cf. 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 31:3; Ezekiel 45:17; Hosea 2:11). If Paul were referring to special ceremonial dates of rest in that passage, why would he have used the word “Sabbath?” He had already mentioned the ceremonial dates when he spoke of festivals and new moons.

2. The Sabbath was the sign to Israel of the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 31:16-17; Ezekiel 20:12; Nehemiah 9:14). Since we are now under the New Covenant (Hebrews 8), we are no longer required to observe the sign of the Mosaic Covenant.

3. The New Testament never commands Christians to observe the Sabbath.

4. In our only glimpse of an early church worship service in the New Testament, the church met on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:20-22; 16:2).

5. Nowhere in the Old Testament are the Gentile nations commanded to observe the Sabbath or condemned for failing to do so. That would certainly be strange if Sabbath observance were meant to be an eternal moral principle.

6. There is no evidence in the Bible of anyone keeping the Sabbath before the time of Moses, nor are there any commands in the Bible to keep the Sabbath before the giving of the law at Mount Sinai.

7. When the Apostles met at the Jerusalem council (Acts 15), they did not impose Sabbath keeping on the Gentile believers.

8. The apostle Paul warned the Gentiles about many different sins in his epistles, but breaking the Sabbath was never one of them.

9. In Galatians 4:10-11, Paul rebukes the Galatians for thinking God expected them to observe special days (including the Sabbath).

10. In Romans 14:5, Paul forbids those who observe the Sabbath (these were no doubt Jewish believers) to condemn those who do not (Gentile believers).

11. The early church fathers, from Ignatius to Augustine, taught that the Old Testament Sabbath had been abolished and that the first day of the week (Sunday) was the day when Christians should meet for worship (contrary to the claim of many Seventh-day Sabbatarians who claim that Sunday worship was not instituted until the fourth century).

12. Sunday has not replaced Saturday as the Sabbath. Rather the Lord’s Day is a time when believers gather to commemorate His resurrection, which occurred on the first day of the week. Every day to the believer is one of Sabbath rest since we have ceased from our spiritual labor and are resting in the salvation of the Lord (Hebrews 4:9-11).

So while we still follow the pattern of designating one day of the week a day for the Lord’s people to gather in worship, we do not refer to this as “the Sabbath.” [4]

Everything Ellen G. White and the Seventh-day Adventist Church teach about the Sabbath is a lie.

The belief that Christians are obligated to keep the seventh-day Sabbath from the Old Covenant, Sunday to become the mark of the Beast, the coming, world-wide Sunday law, the claim that the seventh-day Sabbath is the seal of God for the New Covenant Church, and the Sabbath as a test of faithfulness in the Last Days all have one thing in common: They do not exist in scripture.

There is no command anywhere in the New Testament for Christ’s followers to keep the seventh day Sabbath from the Old Covenant. New converts were never required to keep it. The Sabbath was for Israel alone and served as a sign for the Mosaic Covenant (Exod. 31:12-14; Ezek. 20:12, 20).

In fact, there is no command for Christians to keep any day of the week holy in the New Covenant (Matt. 11:28-30; 12:1-8; Acts 15:1-20; Col. 2:14-17; Gal. 4:10-11; Rom. 14:5-12; Eph. 2:11-18; 2 Cor. 3:3-11; Heb. 3:7-4:13; 8:6-9:4; 10:23-25).

References:
1. see: “Ellen White Was Wrong About Who Changed the Sabbath.”
2. Parts of this page are from: Pope Sylvester I – who changed the Sabbath?
& Samuele Bacchiocchi, Seventh-day Adventist Historian Refuted.
3. When did the Christian church switch the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?
4. Are the Sabbath laws binding on Christians today?