This is a great book! Extremely readable and enjoyable narrative of the authors journey into the meaning of Sabbath in three religious traditions. I think it would be a great read for “advanced” Sabbath School classes that want to discover and discuss the broad appeal of Sabbath from many different perspectives. I wrote about this book on my blog on February 9.

[...] Adventist blogosphere has been posting lately on the demise of the Sabbath with Julius Nam and Ryan Bell both discussing A Day Apart by Christopher D. Ringwald. Julius excerpts a piece on [...]

The Sabbath commandment was given to the Jews; never to the Gentiles–check the Pauline letters and you will not find one admonition on keeping the Sabbath. In fact, no one day was significant for their worship.

Only when a non-Jew wished to become part of the Jewish family (as in the Exodus), was there a FIRST requirement: circumcision. Only then, could they observe the other Jewish festivals. This explains the argument in the Jerusalem church about the importance of circumcision for allowing the Gentiles to be part of the new community of Christians. The transition from Judaism to Christianity was not an easy one, as previously, no one could be adopted into Judaism without that initial step. Once Gentiles began to accept Christianity which began with Judaism which had always been both an ethnicity and a religion, the Gentiles then could be adopted into the new faith without making the first cut (pun intended).

to say that the Sabbath commandment was only given to the Jews and not the Gentiles seems to indicate that the other nine commandments in Exodus don’t apply to Gentiles as well — which is absurd. everything Paul preaches goes back to the Commandments and Jesus’ “two commandment” summary of the ten. let’s face it, we have three options when it comes to keeping the Sabbath: do as the Lord asked in Exodus, do as the Romans did and keep Sunday, or throw the whole thing out. but if we throw that out, what else do we throw out? and where does that process stop?

The Sabbath commandment was definitely given to Israel. There sure weren’t any Adventists during the time of Moses to receive this commandment personally. However, the point of contention, I think, lies in whether the teachings of Jesus was a radical transformation of the old Hebrew laws or a further clarification and elaboration. Did his teachings dissolve the laws created for his chosen people, or was it just a further “add-on” to the laws? Honestly, I have no clue. Now, I’m not sure what happened to the view of the Sabbath during the early NT church, but I’m pretty sure that Sabbath was still the day of worship for these early Jews (and yes, Jesus was a Jew, not a Christian…if he was a Christian, did he follow himself?).

Now, just because most of modern-day Christendom attends church on Sunday does not mean that these individuals are in the wrong since they are attending church on the wrong day. Nor does it mean that since Adventists and other religious traditions worship on the Sabbath is a guarantor of their salvation. I think with the “move” to worship on Sunday, there has been a loss of tradition and a sense of holiness regarding the day of worship, whether it be Saturday or Sunday. Honestly, I don’t think it matters which day you worship, but there needs to be a renewal on the holiness of the Sabbath. God told us to rest, and personally, I choose to do so on Saturday. The meaning of rest on Sabbath (or Sunday) has been totally forgotten in such a hectic culture. There is no sense that the day is reserved for our reflection and meditation on God and what he has done in our lives.

Many Adventists have hated the Sabbath, not because they hated the day in and of itself, but merely because of the “Do-not” rules on the Sabbath. This hatred against the rules regarding the Sabbath has altered the view of this holy day into something dreaded by all Adventists kids around the world. So again, I think as Adventists, we need to have a renewed emphasis that the Sabbath was created to rest and to be in communion with the Triune God. Well, if not for any theological reasons, sheerly for the fact that you can watch good ‘ol FOOTBALL on Sunday…

You touched on one of the major problems: children form their imopression of proper Sabbath keeping mostly from the “don’ts.” Sure, a rest day is wonderful for those who have worked all week and eagerly look forward to relaxing and resting, but what child is eager to rest during the day? Those of us PKs remember only too well that Sabbath was the most hectic day of the week: Dad had to have his sermon prepared; if he had several churches, they must be visited, mother might expect extra company for dinner with no formal notice; and, truthfully, when there was a Sunday night evangelistic meeting, Monday was the REAlL rest day; or Sunday was a day of relaxation that we kids anxiously looked forward to. Doesn’t anyone remember watching the sun to see when it finally went down so we could play the games or do those things prohibited a minute before?

Now, we who are older see the Sabbath entirely differently. But, what in God’s name are we teaching our children if they can’t look forward to the Sabbath as the best day of the week? Many families plan fun activities with their children on that day: eating out so Mom won’t have any work; going to the Zoo or park, or even a play or concert can be acitivities; that is, if parent’s feel such activities or not inappropriate. What is more important: making sure we only do “proper” activities on Sabbath, or helping our children to eagerly look forward to the day?

Addendum: How many women have felt that the Sabbath was made for man and nor for women? Women have not been able to avoid their household duties or care of the children on that day, while most who work outside the home can “relax” but for the mother who works outside the home, she only has additional duties on Sabbath.

I like the way Elaine is being so real with her comments. The Sabbath is truly made for man and not man for the Sabbath. I personally have not had many of those perfectly wonderful Sabbaths, but the ones I have had, have usually taken a lot of planning (thus the Preparation day) which is pretty difficult to do with both parents working full time and the hectic lifestyles that have stolen a march on us! Since reading Jim Holmeburgers book - ESCAPE TO GOD we have been looking at creative ways to change the way we live even if it means giving up a lot of things that we think we enjoy. This lifestyle that we Americans have adopted is nothing compared to the blissful Sabbaths we look forward to in Heaven.

I find it intriguing to reflect on the Sunday keeping habits of protestants in the USA in the mid 19th century (when our denomination was formed). I think our emphasis on the shoulds and shouldn’ts of Sabbath observance parallel the widespread Sunday keeping mores of the time. Is there any way our early fathers could have broadened the notion of Sabbath keeping in that environment? The new, present, truth for them was the switch back to the 7th day. I believe the new, present truth for us is to drop our legalistic observance, yet remember the Sabbath in a creative way. This would also include expanding the levels of meaning for keeping the 7th day. It is more than just a “God said it” thing…….