Who Changed The Sabbath to Sunday?

What is the real historical and Biblical truth about who changed the Sabbath to Sunday? Where in the Bible do we find one single legitimate scripture stating the Sabbath is changed to Sunday?
quote The truth on who changed the Sabbath to Sunday unquote

What is it about the Sabbath Commandment that meets with so much opposition? And why are there tens of thousands of Churches that do observe the Seventh day Sabbath? Did you know that there are now more than five hundred different denominations of Sabbath keeping Churches that observe the Seventh Day Sabbath? America held their third Ten Commandments Commission day in 2008, and because of this yearly event, many Churches started doing studies on the Ten Commandments between the first and second Ten Commandment days, which resulted in another one hundred different denominations switching back to the Seventh Day Sabbath. What did they find that made them change from Sunday back to the Seventh day Sabbath? There are literally hundreds of excuses you can choose from as to why the Seventh Day Sabbath is no longer relevant - or is it? Read on for the real historical truth on the Sabbath to Sunday change.

In the Bible we find that there are over 40 verses from Paul alone as to why circumcision is not done anymore. How important are the Ten Commandments in comparison to circumcision? If Paul says that the Ten Commandments are what matters and Circumcision is nothing, and we have more than forty verses and up to ten verses at a time explaining that Circumcision of the flesh is not relevant anymore, then how many scriptures should we expect to have telling us that the Sabbath is changed to Sunday?

1 Corinthians 7:19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the Commandments of God.

The fact of the matter is that there is not one scripture that says, “The Sabbath is now Sunday.” After all, the Ten Commandments are the ONLY thing that God spoke in such incredible fiery majesty, thundering His voice from the mountain top as everyone below trembled in fear and then personally wrote this magnificent law into stone tablets, yet there is not one clear scripture. Just assumptions! One of God’s Commandments supposedly goes and we do not have even ONE clear scripture. Why not? The answer is simple. It was never changed to Sunday by the authority of God so no such scripture exists. It was actually changed as a result of SUN worship, hence the name SUN-day. The English names for the days of the week are pagan names. In over one hundred other languages in the world, Saturday is still called the Sabbath just as it was named at creation. This dates right back to Babel in Genesis 11 where Saturday was recognized as the Sabbath day and was incorporated into the very name of the day. This predates Judaism and the giving of the law. The following is the origin of the pagan names in day order.


The halo is actually the sun behind the person’s head, as shown in the illustration. It’s easy to recognize once one realizes what it is, although it’s also often stylized to make it less obvious. Originally a very devious way of mixing idolatrous sun worship with Christianity by converts who were not all that converted, and as a result the pagan halo became a very misleading tradition in Christian art.







Sun worship infects ancient Israel
In the ancient world, ‘sun worship’ was one of the most common forms of pagan idolatry. Immediately after Israel left Egypt, God warned His people against being “driven to worship ... the sun.” Deuteronomy 4:19. Yet Israel later yielded to temptation, compromised with the nations around them, and dedicated their “horses ... to the sun.” 2 Kings 23:11. During a time of revival, King Josiah purged much of Israel and “burned the chariots of the sun with fire.” 2 Kings 23:11. Before the Babylonian captivity, many Israelite leaders rejected their Creator, yielded again to idolatry, and “worshipped the sun toward the east.” Ezekiel 8:16. At the same time, God declared that they “hid their eyes from My Sabbaths.” Ezekiel 22:26. Thus ancient Israel shifted from Sabbath keeping to sun worship. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-11, Paul warned the Church against repeating the sins of ancient Israel.

Sun worship, “the day of the sun,” and “Sunday”
The Romans called the sun god “Mithra” and “Apollo,” and they especially worshiped the sun on “the first day of the week,” also called “Dies Solis” (Latin), which means, “day of the sun.” The name “Sunday” was adopted “because this day was anciently dedicated to the sun, or to its worship. The first day of the week.” Webster’s Dictionary; 1929 edition.

A predicted “falling away” within the Church
Through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, Paul discerned that a tragic “falling away” from Jesus Christ and Bible truth would eventually occur within Christianity and that “the man of sin” would arise. 2 Thessalonians 2:3. This “man of sin” is the same power as the “little horn” with “eyes like the eyes of a man” (Daniel 7:8), and “the beast” (Revelation 13). Even in his own day, Paul saw errors creeping into the Church, and declared: “the mystery of iniquity doth already work.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Paul warned that after his death, from among “the elders of the church,” men would “arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:17, 30. This apostasy would result in a departure from God’s Word and the original faith as taught by Jesus Christ. See 1 Timothy 4:1. Other New Testament writers warned that deceptions were entering the Church. See 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:18-19; Jude 1:3-4.

Anti-Jewish sentiment fuelled the Sabbath to Sunday change
It was A.D. 49 when Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because of constant rioting over the instigation of Chrestus. Since converted Jews such as Aquila and Priscilla were expelled along with the Jews (Acts 18:2) we know that the Romans did not distinguish between the Christians and the Jews at this point in time. Fourteen years later however, Nero identified the Christians and the Jews as being separate entities and very distinguished from one and other.

It was towards the end of the first century when relations between the Jews and the Roman Empire deteriorated seriously. Prior to this, the Romans had recognized Judaism as a legitimate religion and even had some degree of respect and admiration for their religious principles. But the Jewish wars that began around 66 A.D. put an end to all that.

Near the end of His ministry, Jesus predicted that every stone of the Jewish Temple would be “thrown down.” Matthew 24:1-2. This occurred when the temple was destroyed by the Romans during “The First Jewish War” in 70 A.D. The statistics of the bloodshed provided by contemporary historians is evidence of the Romans anger and vengeance upon the Jews. Tacitus (A.D. 56-117) gives an estimate of 600,000 Jewish fatalities from the A.D. 70 war. And under Vespasian, (A.D. 69-79) both the Sanhedrin and the office of the High Priest were abolished and worship at the temple was forbidden. When the Romans again made war with the Jews from 132-135 A.D., the Roman Emperor Hadrian banished all Jews from Palestine.

These Jewish Wars took place after the book of Acts was written and resulted in great pressure upon the early Christian Church to move away from anything that “appeared Jewish,” including the Sabbath. Because Sunday was already popular throughout the Roman Empire as a day for sun worship, some Christian leaders (now called the early “Church Fathers”) yielded to temptation and began shifting from “Sabbath to Sunday.” “Jesus Christ rose on Sunday!” became their rationalizing cry. Thus they used the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who “died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3) of which sin is the breaking of God’s Law (1 John 3:4), as an excuse to break one of the Ten Commandments. The earliest evidence of this shift to Sunday that can be found is around 90-120 A.D., being more than five decades after the cross and after the last of the Apostles had died! Because of these minority leaders that began keeping Sunday in honour of the resurrection, this also eventually resulted in Sunday being called the Lord’s Day but it was not and is not the Lord’s Day as so designated in the Bible. Just like today, those people chose tradition and their own ideas rather then the Commandment of God. (Mark 7:6-9)

Christians compromise with pagan “sun worship” practices and adopt “Sunday”
Before the coming of Christ, all the Eastern nations performed divine worship with their faces turned to that part of the heavens where the sun displays his rising beams ... The Christian converts ... retained the ancient and universal custom of worshiping toward the east, which sprang from it.” Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, century II, part II, ch. IV, par. 7.

Sunday (Dies Solis, of the Roman calendar; ‘day of the sun,’ because it was dedicated to the sun), the first day of the week, was adopted by the early Christians as a day of worship.” Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge, Art. “Sunday.”

We all gather on the day of the sun ... on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.” From the “Church Father,” St. Justin. Quoted in the New Official Catholic Catechism (1994), p. 524.

Following in the steps of ancient Israel, Christians in the 1st (latter part), 2nd and 3rd centuries “hid their eyes” from God’s Sabbaths (see Ezekiel 22:26) and adopted pagan traditions associated with sun worship.

The Church “in Rome” becomes the Roman Catholic Church
Before the Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., a strong Christian Church was planted through missionary efforts inside the city of Rome itself in the heart of the Roman Empire. Paul wrote his letter, “The Epistle of Paul to the Romans,” to those early believers “in Rome.” Romans 1:7. But because it was surrounded by paganism inside the world’s mightiest capital, this Church soon experienced a “falling away” (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3) from the purity of the gospel and meta-morphed into the wealthy, politically savvy and powerful Roman Catholic Church. This transition especially took place during the time of the Emperor Constantine (4th century) who favoured the Roman Catholic Church above all other Christian Churches.

Constantine, Catholicism, sun worship and the Sabbath to Sunday change

A shrewd political genius, his scheme was to unite paganism and Christianity in an effort to strengthen his disintegrating empire. Constantine knew that pagans throughout the empire worshiped the sun on “the first day of the week,” and he discovered that many Christians and especially in Rome and Alexandria also kept ‘Sunday’ because Christ rose from the dead on that day. So Constantine developed a plan to unite both groups on the common platform of Sunday keeping. On March 7, 321 A.D., he passed his famous national Sunday law:


And another source: “Let all judges and townspeople and occupations of all trades rest on the venerable day of the Sun [Sunday]; nevertheless, let those who are situated in the rural districts freely and with full liberty attend to the cultivation of the fields, because it so frequently happens that no other day may be so fitting for ploughing grains or trenching vineyards, lest at the time the advantage of the moment granted by the provision of heaven may be lost.The Code of Justinian, Book 3, title 12, law 3.

Now a professed Christian, Constantine nevertheless remained a devout sun worshipper. “The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine,” notes Edward Gibbon in his classic Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. xx, par. 3.

Constantine even printed coins which “bore on the one side the letters of the name of Christ, on the other the figure of the sun god.” Arthur P. Stanley, History of the Eastern Church, lect. vi, par. 14.

Again, Constantine’s promotion of Sunday observance was part of his definite strategy to combine paganism with Christianity: “The retention of the old pagan name of dies Solis, or ‘Sunday,’ for the weekly Christian festival, is in great measure owing to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his subjects, pagan and Christian alike, as the ‘venerable day of the Sun.’” Stanley’s History of the Eastern Church, p. 184.

The Jewish, the Samaritan, even the Christian, were to be fused and recast into one great system, of which the sun was to be the central object of adoration.” Henry Milman, The History of Christianity, Book 2, chap. 8, Vol. 22, p. 175. In 330 A.D., Constantine moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople (modern Istanbul), thus preparing the way for the Roman Catholic Popes to reign in Rome as the successors of Constantine. As the Papal Church grew in power, it opposed Sabbath observance in favour of Sunday sacredness and made the day change official in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 363-364). Constantine’s plan was successful and the result of his Sunday law was now fully accepted and adopted by the Papal Church, and the Sabbath to Sunday change was complete. Some correctly teach that Constantine only instituted the first Sunday law, but they very conveniently fail to acknowledge why and the remainder of the story. The Council of Laodicea around A.D. 364 decreed 59 Canon laws. Canon XXIX:Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” (Percival Translation).

Did God give the fourth Commandment only to the Jews and the other nine to everyone?
Someone always raises the stale argument that the Sabbath is only a sign of holiness for the Jews, but let me remind them of this inspired text: “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29. All born again Christians are the true Israel today and have been sanctified unto God. Therefore, the Sabbath is for anyone who is Christ’s regardless of these fourth coming facts.

The fourth Commandment is constantly being called the Jewish Sabbath yet this phrase does not occur once in the entire Bible. This is because the Sabbath was created in the first week of this planet’s existence long before Jews ever existed. Most do not realize the Hebrew word for rest in Genesis 2:3 is “shabath” and means Sabbath and if not for this Commandment we would only have a six day week. It was Jesus who made the Sabbath at creation and is the reason for His claim to be Lord of the Sabbath day. (Mark 2:28) If Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath day, then the Sabbath is the Lord’s Day. John had a vision on “the Lord’s day” according to Revelation 1:10. That day had to be the Sabbath. It is the only day so designated and claimed by God in the Bible. In writing the Ten Commandments, God called it “the Sabbath of the Lord.” (Exodus 20:10) It is impossible for the Sabbath to be Jewish. Adam and Eve were not Jewish “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” (Genesis 2:3) Sanctified means “to be set apart for holy use.” This was pre-sin and the only ones in Eden to “Sanctify” the Sabbath were Adam and Eve. Were the other Nine “Just for the Jews?” The Sabbath is also for the “stranger” who are Gentiles. (Exodus 20:10) In “the new earth ... from one Sabbath to another, shall ALL FLESH come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 66:22-23) Grace saved Gentiles kept the Sabbath. “The Gentiles besought that these words be preached to them the next Sabbath ... Paul and Barnabas ... persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.” (Acts 13:42-43) Luke was also a Gentile who kept the Sabbath.

The Babylonian language was in use hundreds of years before the Hebrew race was founded by Abraham. That language designated the seventh day of the week as “sa-ba-tu”, meaning rest day and is another indisputable proof that the Bible Sabbath was not and is not exclusively Jewish. Very few realize that the word Sabbath and the concept of resting from work on the seventh day of the week (Saturday) is common to most of the ancient and modern languages of the world, which dates back to Babel in Genesis chapter 11. This is evidence totally independent of the Scriptures that confirms the Biblical teaching that God’s seventh day Sabbath predates Judaism. The concept of a Saturday holy day of rest was understood, accepted and practiced by virtually every culture from Babylon through modern times. In the study of the many languages of mankind you will find two important facts:

1. The seventh day of the week is called the “Sabbath” in the majority of principal languages in the world. (English names are of pagan origin)
2. There is not even one language which designates another day as the “day of rest.”

Many fifth century Christians kept the Saturday Sabbath and Sunday
In spite of the rising popularity of Sunday sacredness, Church historian Socrates Scholasticus (5th century) wrote: “For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries [of the Lord’s Supper] 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.” Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, ch. 22. Another historian confirmed this, stating, “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.” Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, Book 7, ch. 19. Thus even in the 5th century, Sabbath keeping was universally prevalent (except in Rome and Alexandria), along with Sunday keeping. Many Christians kept both days. But as the centuries wore on, Sunday-keeping grew in prominence, especially within Roman Catholic territories. So as a result, all but just over 550 different denominations now observe Sunday, but the question remains, What does the Bible say?

Quotes from the Catholic Church on the Sabbath to Sunday change
Sun worship in the Catholic ChurchBelow are quotes from the Roman Catholic Church which further reveal why most Churches now keep Sunday as the Sabbath. The Catholic Church may be wrong on many things, but everything about these quotes below is true. When they say they are responsible for the final change of the Sabbath to Sunday, they are not delusional and they speak truth. Revelation 13 tells us that Satan gave his power and authority to the Roman Catholic Church. Why? It was Satan’s plan to have this Church change the Sabbath to Sunday. Why did Satan do this? The fourth Commandment is a SIGN as to who we worship and give our allegiance to. If we obey God and keep His Sabbath day Holy, we give our allegiance to God. If we obey the Commandment of the Catholic Church and keep their day Holy, who do we give our allegiance to then? The Catholic Church answers this question below with two of their quotes. But looking even deeper, who gave this Church power so God’s true day of worship could be changed and why? The picture left is just one of many that reveal the extent of Sun worship in the Catholic Church. Watch this dramatic short video to find out what happened to those who did not obey the commandment of the Roman Catholic Church during the dark ages. The Bible says they will be doing it again. You can also watch online a brilliant eleven part documentary on the history of the Sabbath for free from this page .

Does the Bible support the change to Sunday?


Who Made Sunday Holy?
“Question - Which is the Sabbath day?
“Answer - Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Question - Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?


Whose Day of Worship is Sunday?


Who Do We Reverence by Keeping Sunday Holy?


The Seventh Day Sabbath truth revealed
So why did Satan give his power to the Catholic Church? Because he wanted to be like the most high and wanted to be worshipped as God. So what did the dragon do? He gave his power and seat and great authority to the Roman Catholic Church and had them change the Seventh day Sabbath to SUN-day.


Satan desired to be worshipped as God but how could he achieve this goal when no Christian in their right mind would do this. When Satan (the Dragon) gave him (the Pope) his power, and his seat, and great authority, Satan achieved his goal and got the worship he wanted and on his day in favour of pagan sun worship which God detests and Satan knows it. So when the Catholic Church is being worshipped, by keeping their day, who is really being worshipped? Satan himself! This is called worship by representation.

The big issue is who we worship and what day we worship on. Do we give Satan our allegiance and worship on his day implemented by the Papacy, or do we place our allegiance where it should belong and worship on the day that God blessed and sanctified? This is why Satan works so hard through so many people and web sites in attacking this one Commandment. If Christians don’t start loving God and the truth enough to stop listening to the thoughts and excuses and lies of the enemy, it is going to be a sad day in the end times as many Christians will be like lambs to the slaughter when it comes to who we choose to worship in the time of the mark of the beast. Do we worship the Papal beast power or do we worship God. This is what the Seventh day Sabbath is all about. It is a sign as to who we worship and belong to. So who are you going to worship? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

This should end all the Sabbath was changed to Sunday in the Bible arguments which is evidenced by the extreme measures Satan went to for such a very long time and the continued opposition to the Sabbath truth. In fact Sun-Day worship actually goes back more than 2000 years B.C. and coincides with the worship of Satan himself. See the history of Sunday worship for even more detail and the origins of the number 666 or alternatively you can find this information on the sister site who changed the Sabbath to Sunday.

God “is not the author of confusion…” (1 Corinthians 14:33) or some fool that placed a law that is NOT Love and Eternal in with nine other laws that obviously ARE Love and Eternal. While most Christians understand that nine of the Commandments are love and eternal, most do not realize that the fourth is also a Commandment of love and why all Ten Commandments are Love and Eternal. Deuteronomy 6:5 proves this stating that LOVING God with all your heart, might and soul is to keep ALL the Ten Commandments that had just been read 17 verses earlier. How many miss that loving God supremely as Jesus said in Matthew 22:35-40, is to keep the fourth Commandment also and why He stated all the law hang on these Commandments as he quoted this Old Testament verse? God set aside the Seventh day specifically for us to rest and dedicate this day totally to Him in love. To not do so is just as much sin as breaking any of the Commandments and has the same consequences. God did not make a mistake when He placed the Sabbath in His Moral law of love, the Ten Commandments. The Sabbath is a perpetual (never ending) covenant (Exodus 31:13-17) that applies to anyone under the New Covenant that many miss was actually made with Israel only (Hebrews 8:10). Paul however describes two Israel’s today and the one he says counts is the Israel of God, and not the Israel of the flesh. (Romans 9:6-8) If we are Christ’s, then we are Israel today and heirs according to the promise made to Abraham. (Galatians 3:28-29) It is sadly amusing that some attacking God’s law often say the Old Covenant was made just with Israel so the Ten Commandments are gone with the New Covenant. This certainly reveals their ignorance and what spirit they are listening to. See also Romans 2:28-29 and Isaiah 66:22-23. See also Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy or Prophecy of weeks.

One web site in their attack on the Sabbath Commandment stated, “Worshipping on a specific day would be idolatry. We worship the maker every day. God made all the days of the week and does not expect to be worshipped on only one day.” I guess what they are really saying to God is, “Hey God, let me set you straight. Why are you Commanding the Seventh day? Don't you know that we don't have to do that because we worship you every day! Why would you make us sin and commit idolatry by Commanding us to worship on a specific day!?” I was totally dumbfounded when I read this as should anyone! God clearly states the Seventh day is my Sabbath and people respond, “It does not matter what day God.” Does God mean what He says or not? Do you remember how God tested His people in Exodus 16, before He even gave the Ten Commandments to see if they would keep His law? He tested to see if they would keep the Seventh day or not. When they didn’t, God accused these non-Jews of breaking His whole law. We do worship God everyday but if we kept the Sabbath everyday, we would not be Holy, we would be lazy. It should be obvious that it is not possible to keep the Sabbath everyday and when God specifically commands something, He means it!

Because breaking God’s Ten Commandment law is sin, before the cross there was a sacrificial law that had to be followed when Israel did sin. This is the law that Paul called bondage and had ceremonial sabbath days such as Passover and the Day of Atonement etc. These were exclusively Jewish and were nailed to the cross because Jesus was the Lamb of God that ended this sacrificial system. The most common confusion that occurs here is Colossians 2:16, Galatians 4:10 and Romans 14:5. Satan has no shortage of excuses as to why the fourth Commandment supposedly does not matter and so for those who would like to see answers to all the typical excuses, you can find them on God’s Sabbath truth and the main arguments can be found as FAQ’s on the Ten Commandments web site. To see all the arguments and truths as to was the Sabbath changed to Sunday in the Bible, see Sabbath to Sunday change. See also who is the antichrist for an extremely detailed document on the real truth of Antichrist.

Important Note: Satan has always had a long term plan in attacking the law of God (this should be obvious to us) and is desperate to keep Christians from discovering the real truth on the Sabbath Commandment and so you will find that he has had no trouble in finding those he can bring against the truth. They are however fairly easy to identify as they often claim the early Church worshipped habitually on the first day of the week based on scriptures that can be shown to be nothing but deliberate attempts at proving a lie. See is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday for the evidence. They also often call the fourth Commandment the “Jewish Sabbath” (already seen to be impossible. See previous link for more evidence) and attack the issue of sun worship, Constantine and the Catholic Church saying that people quoting the truth cannot make up their mind how it happened and some even claim that none were involved and deny all the above historical quotes while giving some of their own quotes from those who did yield to temptation and began keeping Sunday in honour of the resurrection against God’s will. The truth that they avoid is that all three were involved in the Sabbath to Sunday change as we have seen. Colossians 2:16, Galatians 4:10 and Romans 14:5 are also typically quoted and these as you have seen are also quoted in ignorance, and if you do understand these passages you will be able to easily identify the deceived when they quote these passages that demonstrates they have no idea what the truth is. See Colossians 2:16 for very detailed information on this passage as well as Galatians 4:10 and Romans 14:5. Galatians and the law is also essential reading for the real truth on a very misunderstood book and Sabbath in the New Covenant for even further evidence the Commandment remains.

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