Is Sunday worship the mark of the beast?

[hiscosmicgoldfish]

Is Sunday worship the mark of the beast? I am becoming convinced that the 7th day adventists might be right about this after all (I'm not an adventist, we don't have that religion over here).. I quote from William Cooper's book 'Behold a pale horse'...The Pope has challenged world leaders by claiming that the people of the world already recognise the authority of Rome because they observe the Sunday Sabbath that was ordered by the Pope in the council of Laodicea in AD 364. The seventh day, the sabbath as handed down to Moses by God is Saturday, the celebration of Sunday as the sabbath is verification that the people recognize the Pope as superior to God''...
As a child, then a catholic, I asked my parents why we have changed the sabbath day of the Jews to our Sunday, and was told it was because we're christians. I am thinking now, why did Luther and the others not change the sabbath back to Saturday? Maybe they overlooked this matter, as I might be doing now. I am not of the opinion that the Sunday sabbath is 'THE' mark of the beast, but it appears to be 'A' mark of the beast. If it was THE mark of the beast, we'd all be for it.. but what is lacking in the churches, that they maintain this Sunday worship, is it because they are the 'offspring of the harlot' and cannot be anything other than that? And that at the end they will re-unite with the harlot and forget that they were ever protestants?

 

[EGW]

"He will ... try to change the set times and the laws" Daniel 7:25, NIV
"he will intend to make alterations in times and in law" NASB
"He shall speak ... thinking to change the feast days and the law" (Catholic) New American

All sources quoted in the next few posts contain no comment. All sources are Roman Catholic.

2175 Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath.
...
2177 "The Sunday celebration of the Lord's Day and his Eucharist is at the heart of the Church's life.
'Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church.' "
​

Source:

Catechism of the Catholic Church, published by Liguori Publications, English translation copyright 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana, bearing the Imprimi Potest of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, page 524.

 

[EGW]

The Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord's Day. The Council of Trent (Sess. VI, can. xix) condemns those who deny that the Ten Commandments are binding on Christians.

Source:

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Commandments of God, Volume IV, © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company, Online Edition © 1999 by Kevin Knight, Nihil Obstat - Remy Lafort, Censor Imprimatur - +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York, page 153.

 

[EGW]

[pg. 383] The Apostles therefore resolved to consecrate the first day of the week to the divine worship, and called it the Lord's day. St. John in the Apocalypse makes mention of the Lord's day; and the Apostle commands collections to be made on the first day of the week, that is, according to the interpretation of St. Chrysostom, on the Lord's day. From all this we learn that even then the Lord's day was kept holy in the Church.
[pg. 387] Besides the Sabbath, the Jews observed other festivals which were instituted by the divine law, and the end and aim of which was to awaken in the people the recollection of the principal favours conferred on them by the Almighty. On these festivals the pastor will see Leviticus, (28) Numbers, (29) and Deuteronomy; (30) and on the moral objects contemplated in the institution of such festivals, he may also consult S. Cyril, (31) and S. Thomas. (32)
But the Church of God has in her wisdom ordained that the celebration of the Sabbath should be transferred to "the Lord's day:" as on that day light first shown on the world, so by the resurrection of our Lord on the same day, by whom was thrown open to us the gate to eternal life, we were called out of darkness into light; and hence the Apostle would have it called "the Lord's day." We also learn from the sacred Volume that the first day of the week was held sacred for other reasons: on that day the work of the creation commenced, and on that day the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles.
​

Source: The Catechism of the Council of Trent, Issued by order of Pope Pius V, first published by W. Folds and Son, Great Strand-Street. Published by Richard Coyne, Capel-street, Dublin; and by Keating and Browne, London, 1829, Copyright 1975 and Reprinted 1985 by The Christian Book Club of America, Hawthorne, California, 90251,

The Third Commandment, pages 383,

387.

 

[EGW]

Source:

The Catholic Christian Instructed in the Sacraments, Sacrifice, Ceremonies, and Observances of the Church, by the Right Rev. Dr. Richard Challoner, published in Baltimore in 1852 by John Murphy & Co., pp. 202 - 204.

 

[EGW]

​

Source:

A Doctrinal Catechism by Stephen Keenan, Imprimatur by John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York, Third American Edition, Published by P. J. Kenedy and Sons, New York, Copyright 1876 by T. W. Strong, pages 174, 181. Text of

A Doctrinal Catechism online.

 

[EGW]

Is it true that the Catholic Church substituted the observance of Sunday for the observance of the Bible Sabbath?—and is it true that so-called Protestants contradict themselves weekly by trampling underfoot the Bible seventh day Sabbath, and accept the Catholic Sunday, all the while rejecting the other festivals of the Church? And is it true, as is stated in Keenan's Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174, that the Catholic Church holds this very act as the mark of her power in religious matters?
It is true that Protestants contradict their "Bible Only" theory by keeping the Sunday instead of Saturday, because nowhere in the Bible can a clear text be found to show that Christ changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. From tradition only, which Protestants claim to reject, can Sunday observance be justified. It is not true that the Catholic Church parades the world wide Christian custom as a sign of her power in religious matters, but she refers to it as an instance of Protestant inconsistency. Saturday was the Sabbath day and observed as such even by Christ. Only after His return to Heaven did the Apostles, (in other words the Church), substitute Sunday for Saturday, for several reasons; among them, (1) because Christ rose from the dead on Sunday; (2) because the Holy Holy Ghost descended on the apostles on Sunday, and (3) because emphasis must be laid on the fact that the old dispensation had come to an end, and a new era, with a new religion inaugurated. The first converts to the Christian faith were Jews, who, even after their conversion, wanted to comply with their traditional Mosaic Law. The best way was to wean them away from this was to change the very day, on which, as members of the Hebrew Church, they had been accustomed to worship God.
​

Source:

Our Sunday Visitor, of Huntington Indiana, October 26, 1913, Bureau of Information, page 3.

 

[EGW]

There were many good reasons for the change. In no stronger way could the difference between Christians and Jews be emphasized than in putting aside the Jewish days and seasons of religious worship, and establishing new days and festivals according to the liberty of the Gospel. The first day of the week was kept holy by the Apostles because on this day Christ arose from the dead, and also because on this day the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles.
The observance of Sunday rests upon Tradition rather than upon Scriptures, which are not explicit on this point; but the uniform custom of observing Sunday is so manifestly of Apostolical origin that nearly all the Protestant sects have accommodated themselves to this universal custom of Christendom. Source:

Our Sunday Visitor, of Huntington Indiana, May 16, 1915, Bureau of Information, page 3.

What are the passages in the Bible referring to the change of the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday?
There are no such direct passages. The change, however, was made as we know from the earliest Christian writings after the Bible. It is necessary to accept not only the Bible, but Christian tradition also, that is, the teachings and practices which the Church has held sacred in all times and all places.
Source:

Our Sunday Visitor, of Huntington Indiana, Nov. 19, 1916, Bureau of Information, page 3.

 

[EGW]

The Seventh Day Adventists say that the Apostles had no right nor power to change the Sabbath into the Sunday. Christ, they say, came to fulfill the Law of God, and not one iota has been broken. They maintain that the resurrection of Christ on a Sunday, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on a Sunday are no reason to change the Law. - PROVIDENCE, R. I.
The Apostles did not change the Sabbath into the Sunday; they remain distinct days of the week. But what the Apostles and their successors did was to transfer the obligations attaching to the Sabbath, divine worship and cessation from servile work, to the Sunday. This was done gradually. It was not until about the second century of the Christian era that the observance of the Sunday in place of the Sabbath became universal. Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches the observance of Sunday in the New Law succeeds to the observance of the Sabbath in the Old Law, not by virtue of a divine precept, but from the authority of the Church and the custom of Christians. The introduction of this change by the Church must have had the sanction of Christ, Who is the Lord of the Sabbath, and Who promised to be "with" the Church even to the consummation of the world.
The Seventh Day Adventist tenet is an instance of individualism and private judgment against the custom of the whole Christian Church (though it is logical for those who maintain the "Bible and the Bible only" theory). They insist that divine worship and bodily rest must be observed on the seventh day of the week instead of the first. In this they agree with the Jews. In the Old Law the Sabbath was a figure of things to come, while in the New Law the Sunday is a symbol of the accomplishment of the prophecies in the Redeemer. By continuing the Sabbath observance, the Adventists, though they call themselves Christians, not only associate themselves with the Jews, who are still hoping for the Redeemer, but they also contradict the practice of the whole Christian Church. Is it not presumptuous for them to decide what the Apostles could not do? The Apostles were given the power to bind and loose, and their decisions were ratified in heaven (Matt. 18:18).
The sanctification of one day in the week is of divine law, but the determination of the day in the New Law was left to the authority of the Church. Since the ceremonial and judicial precepts of the Old Law were abolished by the New Law, the Church determined that the first day of the week was to be devoted to divine worship and bodily rest, in order to distinguish the true religion from the Mosaic, which was supplanted by Christianity.
Source:

The Sign, Volume 21, No. 1, The Sign-Post, August 1941, Edited by the Rev. Theophane Maguire, C.P., a publication for the instruction of Catholics, published in Union City, New Jersey, pages 47- 48.

 

[EGW]

"Distinctive of the Roman Catholic Church, Sunday Mass observance became a mark of a practicing Catholic."
​

Source:

Dictionary of the Liturgy, Rev. Jovian P. Lang, OFM., Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1989, ISBN 0-89942-273-X, page 604.

[pg. 397] The attendance at [Sunday] Mass is the mark of a practical Catholic. One who fails to attend is not worthy of the name. While all mortal sins involve great malice, there is attached to this sin a peculiar and unique malice. Other sins like anger or lust are usually the result of great passion which clouds the reason and shakes the will. But missing [Sunday] Mass is done in cold blood — calmly, deliberately, willfully. [pg. 398] ... It is one of the surest ways of losing one's religion and dying in mortal sin. ... [pg. 401] ... Destroy the sanctity of the Sunday and you throw civilization back into the darkness and mire of pagan materialism. You turn back the hands on the clock of progress. [pg. 403] ... Conscious of her divinely appointed mission to speak as the voice of God to all mankind, she commands the worship of God and demands the attendance at Sunday Mass of every Catholic worthy of the name.
​

Source: The Faith of Millions, by the Reverend John A. O'Brien, PH.D., Copyright 1938, published by Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington Indiana, pages

397-398, 401, 403.​

 

[EGW]

Now in the matter of Sabbath observance the Protestant rule of Faith is utterly unable to explain the substitution of the Christian Sunday for the Jewish Saturday. It has been changed. The Bible still teaches that the Sabbath or Saturday should be kept holy. There is no authority in the New Testament for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday. Surely it is an important matter. It stands there in the Bible as one of the Ten Commandments of God. There is no authority in the Bible for abrogating this Commandment, or for transferring its observance to another day of the week. For Catholics it is not the slightest difficulty. "All power is given Me in heaven and on earth; as the Father sent Me so I also send you," said our Divine Lord in giving His tremendous commission to His Apostles. "He that heareth you heareth Me." We have in the authoritative voice of the Church the voice of Christ Himself. The Church is above the Bible; and this transference of Sabbath observance to Sunday is proof positive of that fact. Deny the authority of the Church and you have no adequate or reasonable explanation or justification for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday in the Third - Protestant Fourth - Commandment of God.
Source:

The Catholic Record, London, Ontario Canada, September 1, 1923, Diocese of Bishop Most Rev. Michael F. Fallon, D.D., LL.D.

 

[EGW]

Source:

This Rock, a Catholic magazine of apologetics and evangelization, June 1997, page 8.

 

[EGW]

... Princes and magistrates are to be admonished and exhorted to lend the sanction and support of their authority to the pastors of the Church, particularly in upholding and extending the worship of God [on Sunday], and in commanding obedience to the spiritual injunctions of the pastor.
With regard to the exposition of this Commandment, the faithful are to be carefully taught in what it accords with, and in what it differs from the others, in order that they may understand why Christians observe not the Sabbath but the Lord's day.
​

Source:

The Catechism of the Council of Trent, Issued by order of Pope Pius V, first published by W. Folds and Son, Great Strand-Street. Published by Richard Coyne, Capel-street, Dublin; and by Keating and Browne, London, 1829, Copyright 1975 and Reprinted 1985 by The Christian Book Club of America, Hawthorne, California, 90251, pages 381, 382.

The Roman (TRENT) Catechism online.

All sources quoted in the last few posts contain no comment. All sources are Roman Catholic.

"He will ... try to change the set times and the laws" Daniel 7:25, NIV
"he will intend to make alterations in times and in law" NASB
"He shall speak ... thinking to change the feast days and the law" (Catholic) New American

 

[HisdaughterJen]

Other than the Sabbath, is there any other law or feast day that has been changed?

 

[ThomasDa]

Yes HisdaughterJen, all of God's annual Holy Days have been done away with. These 7 annual Sabbaths picture and explain God's true plan for mankind. They have been replaced with pagan hlolidays like Christmas, Easter, Holloween, Valintine's Day and the like.
When Christ returns to rule this earth with a rod of iron,
God's weekly Sabbath and annual Sabbaths will be taught and kept. Jesus will put an end to all false worship and confusion.

 

[HisdaughterJen]

Yes HisdaughterJen, all of God's annual Holy Days have been done away with. These 7 annual Sabbaths picture and explain God's true plan for mankind. They have been replaced with pagan hlolidays like Christmas, Easter, Holloween, Valintine's Day and the like.
When Christ returns to rule this earth with a rod of iron,
God's weekly Sabbath and annual Sabbaths will be taught and kept. Jesus will put an end to all false worship and confusion.

Wow...you're right. yikes

 

[GW]

ThomasDa:
Yes HisdaughterJen, all of God's annual Holy Days have been done away with....They have been replaced with pagan hlolidays like Christmas, Easter

GW:
Haven't you read the book of Galatians? The Mosaic feasts and ceremonial precepts prefigured that Christ would come, and when he arrived brought them to their conclusion. The Jewish feasts and circumcision of the flesh and animal sacrifice all end at The Christ.

The Jewish feasts, which prefigured that Christ would come, end with Christ's arrival. Now that the Christ has come, we celebrate that same Christ with His resurrection day Sunday, Easter, Christmas, etc. Everything now turns to Christ. Everything now centers on Christ. Everything now is about Christ. The Old Law was a temporary foreshadowing of Christ, according to St. Paul.

Are we not CHRIST-ians?

 

[hiscosmicgoldfish]

Sorry EGW, I can't figure out if you are for or against my argument.

"He will ... try to change the set times and the laws" Daniel 7:25, NIV
"he will intend to make alterations in times and in law" NASB
"He shall speak ... thinking to change the feast days and the law" (Catholic) New American

these refs. here to 'thinking and intend to' means that he will try to alter the law, but the law is written in stone and cannot be altered despite his efforts to do so.

I'm not willing to get into any lengthy arguments with Catholics...my mother is Catholic and we agree not to argue about religion, I'll never change a Catholic and a Catholic will never change my mind, sorry if it upsets some people, but Mystery Babylon is the Roman Catholic Church. And as I said before..the change was ordered by the Pope in the council of Laodicea in AD 364. And the sabbath that was known to John was on Saturday not Sunday.
To Catholics I am still a heretic, I need conversion back to the mother church, fair enough, that's their opinion, as long as they don't try and burn me for my own opinions. But some of these same Catholics post stuff on the net, voicing their own concerns about Ratzinger and his views, while at the same time condemning protestants to damnation. The Roman church is the way it is because it is already written, nothing can change anything until doomsday.

 

[Brain Damage]

Hang on guys, we need to get a grip on this. Daniel 7:25 appears to be talking about the jews and not christians , or thats how i'm reading it.

Daniel 7:25-He will defy the Most High and wear down the holy people of the Most High. He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time.(NLT)

Plus if we say it is refering to christians and the changing of the sabbath from Sat to Sun , then aren't we assuming the 3 1/2 yrs is past ?....

 

[hiscosmicgoldfish]

Hang on guys, we need to get a grip on this. Daniel 7:25 appears to be talking about the jews and not christians , or thats how i'm reading it.

Daniel 7:25-He will defy the Most High and wear down the holy people of the Most High. He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time.(NLT)

Plus if we say it is refering to christians and the changing of the sabbath from Sat to Sun , then aren't we assuming the 3 1/2 yrs is past ?....

Daniel didn't know what Christians are, and I'm spiritually a Jew and I'm a Christian. It's the same religion, Jesus is the fulfillment of Judaism.