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T13 reasoning: Sabbath and Lord's Day

Reasoning steps: Sabbath and Lord’s Day

Verdicts: T13 · Sabbath and Lord’s Day. Method: conventions, scoring and proximity eras. Scripture is the primary measure; fathers are weighed by era (Era I to c. 150 = 1.0, II = 0.8, III = 0.6, IV = 0.4).

T13.1: Sabbath and Lord’s Day

Step T13.1.1: Scripture

Rev 1:10 (’the Lord’s day’); Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor 16:2 (first day). Col 2:16–17: no one is to judge ‘with regard to … a Sabbath’, a shadow of Christ; Rom 14:5. The fourth commandment is grounded in creation (Exod 20:11). No text transfers the Sabbath to Sunday.

Step T13.1.2: Patristic evidence

Didache (Era I): ’every Lord’s day gather yourselves together’. Ignatius (Era I): Christians are ’no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day’. Justin (Era II): worship ‘on the day called Sunday’. Sources: didache-t13-s1 · ignatius-t13-s1 · justin-martyr-t13-s1.

Step T13.1.3: Weighing decision

Era I–II: Sunday worship replaces Sabbath observance; Sunday rest as a Sabbath transfer appears from Constantine (321) and later. Verdict: Lord’s Day worship, not a transferred Sabbath, in Era I–II.

  • Confidence: Medium–high.

Step T13.1.4: Source-proximity weighing

  • Scripture (benchmark): Christians gather on the first day (Acts 20:7; Rev 1:10); the Sabbath is a shadow fulfilled in Christ (Col 2:16–17). No text makes Sunday a Sabbath. (Scripture confidence: medium)
  • Assessment: Scripture and Era I agree; strict Sunday sabbatarianism lacks both.

Post-750 development by tradition

Catholic

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers 3/4; Scripture 3/4): Sunday obligation and rest from servile work (Roman Catechism on the 3rd commandment).

Orthodox

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): Sunday as the day of resurrection; Saturday honoured, not kept as Sabbath rest.

Oriental Orthodox

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): Sunday worship (to verify).

Lutheran

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): AC XXVIII: Sunday appointed by the church; Sabbath abrogated.

Anglican

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers 3/4; Scripture 3/4): 1662: Sunday worship; the fourth commandment read in the Communion (to verify).

Presbyterian

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): WCF XXI.7: ’the Lord’s day … the Christian Sabbath’ (verified).

Reformed Baptist

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): 1689 22.7: ’the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished’ (verified).

General Baptist

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): Orthodox Creed 40, ‘Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath-Day’: ’the First Day of the Week, which is called the Lord’s Day’ (OCR-verified); follows the Westminster Sabbath pattern.

Anabaptist

See the note below.

  • T13.1 (fathers n/a/4; Scripture n/a/4): Not addressed.