Sabbath in Christianity

A Ten Commandments monument.

For other uses, see [[:Biblical Sabbath, seventh-day Sabbath, Jewish Sabbath, High Sabbath, and Sabbath year]].

Sabbath in Christianity is a weekly day of rest or related occasion, derived from Biblical Sabbath (Hebrew: שַׁבָּת, shabbâth, Template:StrongHebrew, meaning intensive "repose").

Biblical Sabbath observance, i.e., resting from hard labors from sunset to sunset on the seventh day (from Friday to Saturday), is practiced by seventh-day Sabbatarians, similarly to Shabbat in Judaism.

Also, since shortly after the church's founding, the majority of Christians have observed the first day for weekly corporate worship (Sunday, now also known as the Lord's Day). From the fourth century onwards, Sunday worship has largely also taken on the observance of Sunday rest (first-day Sabbatarianism). Among these Christians, Sunday worship and/or rest eventually became synonymous with a first-day "Christian Sabbath".

Non-Sabbatarianism, the principle of Christian liberty from being bound to physical Sabbath observance (and the focus on Sabbath as typological present or future spiritual rest in Christ), also has significant historical support.

Most dictionaries provide both first-day and seventh-day definitions for "Sabbath" and "Sabbatarian", among other related uses.

Biblical Sabbath

Main article: Biblical Sabbath

See also: Sabbath desecration and Paul of Tarsus and Judaism

Sabbath was first described in the Biblical account of the seventh day of Creation. Observation and remembrance of Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments (the fourth in the Eastern Orthodox and most Protestant traditions, the third in Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions). Most people who observe first-day or seventh-day Sabbath regard it as having been instituted as a "perpetual covenant [for] the people of Israel" and proselytes (Ex. 31:13–17, Ex. 23:12, Deut. 5:13–14), a sign in respect for the day during which God rested after having completed Creation in six days (Gen. 2:2–3, Ex. 20:8–11).

In the New Testament, Jesus debates the Jews about the topic of Sabbath observance and declares himself Lord of Sabbath (e.g., Mk. 2:21–28). Early Jewish Christians such as Paul of Tarsus visit the synagogue on Sabbath. The New Testament epistles contain Sabbath teachings interpreted variously by Christians as affirming seventh-day rest, first-day worship, and/or freedom from legalistic requirements to observe days.

The following textual evidence for first-day assembly is usually combined with the notion that the rest day should follow the assembly day to support first-day Sabbatarianism. On the first day of the week (usually considered the day of Firstfruits), after Jesus has been raised from the dead (Mk. 16:9), he appears to Mary Magdalene, Peter, Cleopas, and others. "On the evening of that first day of the week" (Roman time), or the evening beginning the second day (Hebrew time), the resurrected Jesus appears at a meeting of ten apostles and other disciples (Jn. 20:19). The same time of the week "a week later" (NIV) or, more literally, "after eight days again" inclusive (KJV), Jesus appears to the eleven apostles and others (Jn. 20:26). After Jesus ascends (Ac. 1:9Template:Bibleverse with invalid book), on the feast of Pentecost or Shavuot (the 50th day from Firstfruits and thus usually calculated as the first day of the week), the Spirit of God is given to the disciples, who baptize 3,000 people into the apostolic fellowship. Later, on one occasion in Troas, the early Christians meet on the first day (Hebrew) to break bread and to listen to Christian preaching (Ac. 20:7Template:Bibleverse with invalid book). Paul also states that the churches of Corinth and Galatia should set aside donations on the first day for collection (1 Cor. 16:2). Other interpreters believe these references do not support the concept of transfer of the seventh-day rest, and some add that they do not sufficiently prove that Sunday observance was an established practice in the primitive New Testament church.

Early-church worship

Main article: Early Christianity

Early church

Since shortly after the church's founding, the majority of Christians have observed the first day for weekly corporate worship (Sunday, now also known as the Lord's Day). From the fourth century onwards, Sunday worship (now "first-day Sabbatarianism") has largely also taken on the observance of Sunday rest. According to Bauckham, the post-apostolic church contained diverse practices as regards seventh-day Sabbath. Formative first-day Sabbatarianism focused on the communal assembly day.

Widespread seventh-day Sabbath observance by Gentile Christians prevailed in the 3rd and 4th centuries. In the 4th century, Socrates Scholasticus Church History book 5 states:

For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.

Edict of Constantine

On the seventh of March, A.D. 321, the Roman Emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a day of rest from labor stating

All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun. Country people, however, may freely attend to the cultivation of the fields, because it frequently happens that no other days are better adapted for planting the grain in the furrows or the vines in trenches. So that the advantage given by heavenly providence may not for the occasion of a short time perish.

— Joseph Cullen Ayer, A Source Book for Ancient Church History

Constantine's decree was most likely modeled on pagan sun worship, though it is probable that he also intended to benefit the church, which already met for worship on Sunday. Some theorize that, because the practice favored the Christian day of worship, it also helped the church to avoid implicit association with the Jews. Eusebius, in Life of Constantine, claims Constantine stated: "Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Saviour a different way."

Also in the 4th century, Sozomen Church History book 7 states:

The people of Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week, which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria.

Sunday worship

Early observance of Sunday is attested in patristic writings of the second century. These writers and approximate dates include Ignatius of Antioch (107), Bardaisan (154), Irenaeus (178), Cyprian (200), Victorinus of Petovio (280), and Eusebius of Caesarea (324). These early Christians believed that the resurrection and ascension of Christ signals the renewal of creation, making the day on which God accomplished it a day analogous to the first day of creation when God made the light. Some of these writers referred to Sunday as the eighth day. Didache 14:1 (AD 70-120?) contains an ambiguous text, translated by Roberts as, "But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving"; the first clause in Greek, "κατά κυριακήν δέ κυρίου", literally means "On the Lord's of the Lord", and translators supply the elided noun (e.g., "day", "commandment" (from 13:7), or "doctrine"). This is one of only two extrabiblical Christian uses of "κυριακήν" where it does not clearly refer to Sunday. Breaking bread may refer to Christian fellowship, agape feasts, or Eucharist (cf. Ac. 2:42Template:Bibleverse with invalid book, 20:7Template:Bibleverse with invalid book).

The Epistle of Barnabas or Pseudo-Barnabas on Is. 1:13 stated the eighth-day assembly marks the resurrection and the new creation: "He is saying there: 'It is not these sabbaths of the present age that I find acceptable, but the one of my own appointment: the one that, after I have set all things at rest, is to usher in the Eighth Day, the commencement of a new world.' (And we too rejoice in celebrating the Eighth Day; because that was when Jesus rose from the dead, and showed Himself again, and ascended into heaven.)"

By the mid-second century, Justin Martyr stated, "We all gather on the day of the sun" (recalling both the creation of light and the resurrection); He argued that Sabbath was not kept before Moses, and was only instituted as a sign to Israel and a temporary measure because of Israel's sinfulness.

Tertullian (early 3rd century), writing against Christians who participated in pagan festivals (Saturnalia and New-year), defends the Christian celebration of Sunday against the accusation of sun-worship.

By us, to whom Sabbaths are strange, and the new moons and festivals formerly beloved by God, the Saturnalia and New-year's and Midwinter's festivals and Matronalia are frequented--presents come and go--New-year's gifts--games join their noise--banquets join their din! Oh better fidelity of the nations to their own sect, which claims no solemnity of the Christians for itself! Not the Lord's day, not Pentecost, even it they had known them, would they have shared with us; for they would fear lest they should seem to be Christians. We are not apprehensive lest we seem to be heathens! If any indulgence is to be granted to the flesh, you have it. I will not say your own days, but more too; for to the heathens each festive day occurs but once annually: you have a festive day every eighth day.

— Tertullian, On Idolatry, 14

Others, with greater regard to good manners, it must be confessed, suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians, because it is a well-known fact that we pray towards the east, or because we make Sunday a day of festivity.

— Tertullian, Ad Nationes, 1:13

Nevertheless, widespread Sabbath observance by Gentile Christians prevailed in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Church authorities continued to oppose this as a Judaizing tendency. For example, the Council of Laodicea (canon 29) states Christians must not Judaize by resting on Sabbath but must work that day and then if possible rest on the Lord's Day and any found to be Judaizers are anathema from Christ.

Origins of Sunday worship

Bauckham argues that Sunday worship must have originated in Palestine in the mid-1st century, in the period of the Acts of the Apostles, no later than the Gentile mission. This is because the practice had become universal by the early 2nd century with no hint of controversy in the writings that have survived from the early church. It would have been virtually impossible for a novel practice such as Sunday worship to be agreed upon universally, with no debate, had it been introduced after the Christian church had spread throughout the known world. Bauckham observes that there is no record of any early Christian group which did not observe Sunday, with the exception of a single extreme group of Ebionites mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea.

Some scholars, such as R. Beckwith and W. Stott (1978), W. Rordorf (1962) and Paul King Jewett (1971) have argued that Christian Sunday worship traces back even further, to the resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded in the Gospel narratives.

Seventh-day Adventist scholar Samuele Bacchiocchi has argued that Sunday worship was introduced in Rome in the 2nd century, and was enforced throughout the Christian church as a substitution for Sabbath worship. Bauckham responds to Bacchiocchi's theory by arguing, firstly, that there is no evidence that Sunday was observed as substitute Sabbath in the early centuries of the church and in fact there is evidence of early Christians who simultaneously observed both Sabbath rest (on Saturday) and Sunday worship. Secondly, Bauckham argues that in the 2nd century the church of Rome lacked the jurisdictional authority to impose a universal change of Sabbath observance from the seventh day to the first, leaving no trace of disagreement or resistance; the prolonged controversy over the date of Easter (see Quartodecimanism; the debate over Easter raged for over a century until it was in theory resolved at the First Council of Nicea, though the date still varies between East and West, see Easter controversy) is a case in point.

Middle ages

Main article: Lord's Day

See also: Law in Christianity

Augustine of Hippo followed the early patristic writers in spiritualizing the meaning of the Sabbath commandment, referring it to eschatological rest rather than observance of a literal day. However, the practice of Sunday rest increased in prominence throughout the early Middle Ages. Thomas Aquinas taught that the Decalogue is an expression of natural law which binds all men, and therefore the Sabbath commandment is a moral requirement along with the other nine. Thus Sunday rest and Sabbath became increasingly associated.

Protestant Sunday-observance

The reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin viewed Sunday rest as a civic institution established by human authority, which provided an occasion for bodily rest and public worship.

Sunday Sabbatarianism became prevalent amongst both the continental and English Protestants over the following century. A new rigorism was brought into the observance of the Christian Lord's Day among the seventeenth-century Puritans of England and Scotland, in reaction to the laxity with which Sunday observance was customarily kept. Sabbath ordinances were appealed to, with the idea that only the word of God can bind men's consciences in whether or how they will take a break from work, or to impose an obligation to meet at a particular time. Their influential reasoning spread to other denominations also, and it is primarily through their influence that "Sabbath" has become the colloquial equivalent of "Lord's Day" or "Sunday". The most mature expression of this influence survives in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), Chapter 21, "Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day". Section 7-8 reads:

7. As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which, in Scripture, is called the Lord’s day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.

8. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe a holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

Though Sabbatarian practice declined in the 18th century, the evangelical awakening in the 19th century led to a greater concern for strict Sunday observance. The founding of the Lord's Day Observance Society in 1831 was influenced by the teaching of Daniel Wilson.

Modern church

Main article: Lord's Day

See also: Sunday, Sunday drive, and Sunday shopping

Roman Catholicism

In 1998 Pope John Paul II wrote an apostolic letter Dies Domini, "on keeping the Lord's day holy". He encourages Catholics to remember the importance of keeping Sunday holy, urging that it not lose its meaning by being blended with a frivolous "weekend" mentality.

In Catholicism, "Sabbath" is a synonym of "Lord's Day" (Sunday), which is kept in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, and celebrated with the Eucharist (Catholic Catechism 2177). It is also the day of rest. Lord's Day is considered both the first day and the "eighth day" of the seven-day week, symbolizing both first creation and new creation (2174). Roman Catholics view the first day as a day for assembly for worship (2178, Heb. 10:25), but consider a day of rigorous rest not obligatory on Christians (Rom. 14:5, Col. 2:16). Catholics count the prohibition of servile work as transferred from seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday (2175-6), but do not hinder participation in "ordinary and innocent occupations".

Cardinal Gibbons affirmed Sunday Sabbath as a sign of the Roman Catholic Church's sufficiency as guide: "Third–A rule of faith, or a competent guide to heaven, must be able to instruct in all the truths necessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practice. Not to mention other examples, is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify. The Catholic Church correctly teaches that our Lord and His Apostles inculcated certain important duties of religion which are not recorded by the inspired writers. [See John xxi. 25; II. Thess. ii. 14.] For instance, most Christians pray to the Holy Ghost, a practice which is nowhere found in the Bible. We must, therefore, conclude that the Scriptures alone cannot be a sufficient guide and rule of faith because they cannot, at any time, be within the reach of every inquirer; because they are not of themselves clear and intelligible even in matters of the highest importance, and because they do not contain all the truths necessary for salvation."

Lutheranism

Lutheran writer Marva Dawn keeps a whole day as Sabbath, emphasizing four themes in the subtitle of her book, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting. She has advocated for rest during any weekly complete 24-hour period, and has favored rest from Saturday sunset to Sunday sunset. She believes "corporate worship" is "an essential part of God's Sabbath reclamation."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

In 1831, Joseph Smith published a revelation commanding his related movement, the formative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to go to the house of prayer, offer up their sacraments, rest from their labors, and pay their devotions on the Lord's day. (D&C 59:9–12). Latter-day Saints believe this means performing no labor that would keep them from giving their full attention to spiritual matters (Ex. 20:10). Movement prophets have described this as meaning they should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events, or participate in similar activities on that day. Elder Spencer W. Kimball taught that mere idle lounging on Sabbath does not keep the day holy, and that Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts (Miracle of Forgiveness, pp. 96–97).

Latter-day Saints prepare only simple foods on Sabbath (D&C 59:13, Is. 58:13) and believe the day is only for righteous activities, such as:

1. Attending Church meetings
2. Reading the scriptures and the words of Church leaders
3. Visiting the sick, the aged, and loved ones
4. Listening to uplifting music and singing hymns
5. Praying to Heavenly Father with praise and thanksgiving
6. Performing Church service as assigned
7. Preparing family history records and personal histories
8. Telling faith-promoting stories, bearing testimony to family members, and sharing spiritual experiences with them
9. Writing letters to loved ones
10. Fasting with a purpose
11. Sharing time with children and others in the home

Doctrine teaches that, though there may be times when one is required to work on Sabbath, one should avoid it whenever possible, and, when work is absolutely necessary, one should instead maintain the spirit of Sabbath worship in one's heart as much as possible. In most areas of the world, Latter-day Saints worship on Sunday, but in parts of the world where traditional Sabbath is on another day, such as in Israel or in Saudi Arabia, Latter-day Saints observe local Sabbath.

Seventh-day rest

Main article: Sabbath in seventh-day churches

See also: Saturday and List of Sabbath-keeping churches

Oldest Sabbatarian Meeting House in America, built in 1729 in Newport, Rhode Island, now owned by Newport Historical Society.

Early history

Main article: Sabbath in seventh-day churches

Some early Christian and gnostic sects continued to observe Sabbath as evidenced in Ignatius' letter to the Magnesians.

We have seen how former adherents of the ancient customs have since attained to a new hope; so that they have given up keeping the sabbath, and now order their lives by the Lord's Day instead (the day when life first dawned for us, thanks to Him and His death.)

— Ignatius, To the Magnesians, chapter 9

Reformation

Seventh-day Sabbatarianism was advocated in England by John Traske (1586–1636) and Thomas Brabourne.

The Seventh-day Adventist church arose in the mid-19th century in America, having inherited seventh-day Sabbatarianism from the Seventh-day Baptists.

Seventh-day churches

See also: Seventh-day Adventist worship and Armstrongism

Eastern Christianity

The Eastern Orthodox church distinguishes between "Sabbath" (Saturday) and "Lord's Day" (Sunday), and both continue to play a special role for the faithful. Many parishes and monasteries will serve the Divine Liturgy on both Saturday morning and Sunday morning. The church never allows strict fasting on any Saturday (except Holy Saturday) or Sunday, and the fasting rules on those Saturdays and Sundays which fall during one of the fasting seasons (such as Great Lent, Apostles' Fast, etc.) are always relaxed to some degree. During Great Lent, when the celebration of the Liturgy is forbidden on weekdays, there is always Liturgy on Saturday as well as Sunday. The church also has a special cycle of Bible readings (Epistle and Gospel) for Saturdays and Sundays which is different from the cycle of readings allotted to weekdays. However, the Lord's Day, being a celebration of the Resurrection, is clearly given more emphasis. For instance, in the Russian Orthodox Church Sunday is always observed with an All-Night Vigil on Saturday night, and in all of the Orthodox Churches it is amplified with special hymns which are chanted only on Sunday. If a feast day falls on a Sunday it is always combined with the hymns for Sunday (unless it is a Great Feast of the Lord). Saturday is celebrated as a sort of leave-taking for the previous Sunday, on which several of the hymns from the previous Sunday are repeated.

In part, Orthodox Christians continue to celebrate Saturday as Sabbath because of its role in the history of salvation: it was on a Saturday that Jesus "rested" in the tomb after his work on the cross. For this reason also, Saturday is a day for general commemoration of the departed, and special requiem hymns are often chanted on this day.

The Ethiopian Orthodox church (part of the Oriental Orthodox communion, having about 40 million members) observes both Saturday and Sunday as holy, but places extra emphasis on Sunday.

Eschatology

See also: Seventh-day Adventist eschatology

Non-Sabbatarianism

Main article: Non-Sabbatarianism

Justin Martyr, writing in the 2nd century, rejected the need to keep literal seventh-day Sabbath, arguing instead that "the new law requires you to keep the sabbath constantly." Similarly, Irenaeus wrote that the Christian "will not be commanded to leave idle one day of rest, who is constantly keeping sabbath", and Tertullian argued "that we still more ought to observe a sabbath from all servile work always, and not only every seventh-day, but through all time". This early metaphorical interpretation of Sabbath applied it to the entire Christian life. Augustine, Luther and Calvin taught that the Sabbath commandment of the Decalogue is not binding on Christians. Other historical non-sabbatarians from more recent times include the Anglicans Peter Heylin, William Paley and John Milton; the nonconformist Philip Doddridge; the Quaker Robert Barclay; and Congregationalist James Baldwin Brown.

Some modern Christians keep Sabbath but do not limit its observance to either Saturday or Sunday, instead advocating any day of the week, although other considerations such as communal worship may impact the timing.

Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, keeps or kept Sabbath on Mondays.

Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, creator of the NOOMA videos, and popular Emerging Church leader, also keeps Sabbath:

"Now when we read the word Sabbath, most of us think of a day in the week, which is what it is. But I have learned that the real issue behind the Sabbath isn't which day of the week it is but how we live all the time.

I decided to start taking one day a week to cease from work."

Robert Brinsmead, a disfellowshipped Seventh-day Adventist, decided against Sabbath and published Sabbatarianism Re-examined in 1981. Former Adventist Dale Ratzlaff published Sabbath in Crisis in 1990, which was updated and expanded to Sabbath in Christ published in 2003.

Many Christians today consider that they are not required to observe a day of rest either on Saturday or Sunday. It is generally argued by these Christians that the Ten Commandments, along with the entire Law of Moses, was fulfilled by Christ and is therefore no longer binding as a moral law. While Sunday is observed as the day of Christian assembly and worship, in accordance with church tradition, the Sabbath commandment is dissociated from this practice.

Other definitions

Main article: Seven-day week

By synecdoche the term "Sabbath" in the New Testament may also mean simply a "se'nnight" or seven-day week, namely, the interval between two Sabbaths. Jesus's parable of the Pharisee and the Publican describes the Pharisee as fasting "twice a week" (Greek dis tou sabbatou, literally, "twice of the Sabbath").

Main article: High Sabbaths

Seven annual Biblical festivals, called by the name miqra ("called assembly") in Hebrew and "High Sabbath" in English, serve as supplemental testimonies to the plan of Sabbath. These are recorded in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy and do not necessarily occur on Sabbath. They are observed by Jews and a minority of Christians. Three of them occur in spring: the first and seventh days of Passover, and Pentecost. Four occur in fall, in the seventh month, and are also called Shabbaton: Trumpets; Atonement, the "Sabbath of Sabbaths"; and the first and eighth days of Tabernacles.

Main article: Shmita

The year of Shmita (Hebrew שמיטה, literally, "release"), also called Sabbatical Year, is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel. During Shmita, the land is to be left to lie fallow. A second aspect of Shmita concerns debts and loans: when the year ends, personal debts are considered nullified and forgiven.

Main article: Shabbat

Jewish Shabbat is a weekly day of rest cognate to Christian Sabbath, observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night; it is also observed by a minority of Christians. Customarily, Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles shortly before sunset, at halakhically calculated times that change from week to week and from place to place.

Main article: New moon

The new moon, occurring every 29 or 30 days, is an important separately sanctioned occasion in Judaism and some other faiths. It is not widely regarded as Sabbath, but some Messianic and Pentecostal churches, such as the native New Israelites of Peru and the Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church, do keep the day of the new moon as Sabbath or rest day, from evening to evening. New-moon services can last all day.

Main article: Day of the Vow

In South Africa, Christian Boers have celebrated December 16, now called the Day of Reconciliation, as annual Sabbath (holy day of thanksgiving) since 1838, commemorating a famous Boer victory over the Zulu.

Main article: Millennialism

Many early Christian writers from the second century, such as pseudo-Barnabas, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and Hippolytus of Rome followed rabbinic Judaism in interpreting Sabbath not as a literal day of rest, but as a thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, which would follow six millennia of world history.

Main article: Blue law

Secular use of "Sabbath" for "rest day", while it usually refers to Sunday, is often stated in North America to refer to different purposes for the rest day than those of Christendom. In McGowan v. Maryland (1961), the Supreme Court of the United States held that contemporary Maryland blue laws (typically, Sunday rest laws) were intended to promote the secular values of "health, safety, recreation, and general well-being" through a common day of rest, and that this day coinciding with majority Christian Sabbath neither reduces its effectiveness for secular purposes nor prevents adherents of other religions from observing their own holy days.

References

First-day:

• Dawn, Marva J. (1989). Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting. Grand Rapids.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Dawn, Marva J. (2006). The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of Life for Those Who Serve God, the Church, and the World.
• United States Catholic Conference, Inc. (1997). "You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart, and with All Your Soul, and with All Your Mind, Article 3, The Third Commandment". Catechism of the Catholic Church (2d ed.). New York City: Doubleday. 2168–2195.

Seventh-day:

• Bacchiocchi, Samuele (1977). From Sabbath to Sunday. Pontifical Gregorian University Press; Biblical Perspectives.
• Bacchiocchi, Samuele (June 1980). Divine Rest for Human Restlessness. Biblical Perspectives. ISBN 9789994610242.
• Bacchiocchi, Samuele (1998). The Sabbath Under Crossfire: A Biblical Analysis Of Recent Sabbath/Sunday Developments. Biblical Perspectives.
• Ford, Desmond (1981). The Forgotten Day.
• Strand, Kenneth A., ed. (July 1982). The Sabbath in Scripture and History. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. ISBN 9780828000376. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Non-Sabbatarian:

• Brinsmead, Robert (June 1981). Sabbatarianism Re-examined. Verdict Publishing 4:4.
• Ratzlaff, Dale; Muth, Don; Tinker, Richard; Fredericks, Richard (2003). Sabbath in Christ. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)

Varying:

• Carson, Don A., ed. (1982). From Sabbath to Lord's Day. Zondervan. ISBN 9781579103071. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Includes Bauckham, R. J. The Lord's Day. pp. 221–250. Bauckham, R. J. Sabbath and Sunday in the Post-Apostolic Church. pp. 252–298. Bauckham, R. J. Sabbath and Sunday in the Medieval Church in the West. pp. 299–310. Bauckham, R. J. Sabbath and Sunday in the Protestant Tradition. pp. 311–342.