But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
Exodus 20:10
"Tertullian's first reference to Sunday is found in that part of his Apology in which he excuses his brethren from the charge of sun-worship. Thus he says:--
Others, again, certainly with more information and greater verisimilitude, believe that the sun is our
God. We shall be counted Persians, perhaps, though we do not worship the orb of day painted on a piece of linen cloth, having himself everywhere in his own disk. The idea, no doubt, has originated from our being known to turn to the east in prayer. But you, many of you, also, under pretense sometimes of worshiping the heavenly bodies, move your lips in the direction of the sunrise. In the same way, if we devote Sunday to rejoicing, from a far different reason than sun-worship, we have some resemblance to those of you who devote the day of Saturn to ease and luxury, though they, too, go far away from Jewish ways, of which indeed they are ignorant.
Several important facts are presented in this quotation.
Others, again, certainly with more information and greater verisimilitude, believe that the sun is our
Several important facts are presented in this quotation.
- Sunday was an ancient heathen festival in honor of the sun.
- Those Christians who observed the festival of Sunday were claimed by the heathen as sun-worshipers.
- The entrance of the Sunday festival into the church in an age of apostasy when men very generally honored it, was not merely not difficult to be effected, it was actually difficult to be prevented."
