I had this in my notes but have lost them somehow, and searched for a while and finally came across the explanation...
' Sola scriptura.
Martin Luther and his contemporaries claimed this Latin phrase, meaning “Scripture alone,” was the basis for their efforts to reform Catholicism and reject the authority of the pope and Catholic tradition.
Unfortunately, a major problem arose: they couldn’t fully agree on what and how to reform. Some wanted to move fast with sweeping reforms; others wanted to move slowly. Some wanted limited crosses and icons; others believed all icons were wrong. Some believed in infant baptism; others, only adult baptism. Some believed the Eucharistic bread was Christ’s body; others believed it represented Christ’s body. The disagreements went on and on, which is why there are thousands of Protestant denominations today.
But, despite these divisions, there is one belief the reformers almost unanimously agreed on. In this, they did not break with the Roman Church: They upheld Sunday as the day of worship.
To find the origin of Sunday worship, one has to consult extrabiblical history, which shows Sunday was gradually adopted (by some) beginning in the mid-second century. The first written evidence of Sunday worship is from a document written by Justin Martyr around A.D. 150. One of the primary motivations for the change to Sunday was a desire to not appear “Jewish.” In fact, early in its history, the Roman Church even imposed a weekly Saturday fast to show “contempt for the Jews” who observed the Sabbath as a feast (Kenneth Strand, ed., The Sabbath in Scripture and History, 1982, pp. 137-138).
In A.D. 321 Constantine the Great officially established Sunday as the day of rest throughout the Roman Empire. Constantine had been a devout sun worshipper most of his life, which might help explain why he enshrined dies solis (the day of the sun) as the official day of worship.
The history of Sunday is not a secret. To its credit, the Catholic Church is very honest about making this change. John A. O’Brien, in his book on Catholic theology, The Faith of Millions: The Credentials of the Catholic Religion, states the Catholic belief: “The Church received the authority to make such a change from her Founder, Jesus Christ. … The Church did not change the divine law obliging men to worship, but merely changed the day on which such public worship was to be offered” (1974, p. 400, emphasis added). Many other Catholic sources say the same thing.
Secular history and the Roman Church agree on this point: It was the Catholic Church that changed the Christian day of worship from the seventh day to Sunday—not the Bible. To see more evidence of this, read “When and How Did the Change in Worship From Saturday to Sunday Occur?”
' Sola scriptura.
Martin Luther and his contemporaries claimed this Latin phrase, meaning “Scripture alone,” was the basis for their efforts to reform Catholicism and reject the authority of the pope and Catholic tradition.
Unfortunately, a major problem arose: they couldn’t fully agree on what and how to reform. Some wanted to move fast with sweeping reforms; others wanted to move slowly. Some wanted limited crosses and icons; others believed all icons were wrong. Some believed in infant baptism; others, only adult baptism. Some believed the Eucharistic bread was Christ’s body; others believed it represented Christ’s body. The disagreements went on and on, which is why there are thousands of Protestant denominations today.
But, despite these divisions, there is one belief the reformers almost unanimously agreed on. In this, they did not break with the Roman Church: They upheld Sunday as the day of worship.
The problem with Sunday
But maintaining Sunday created a huge problem Protestants still live with to this day. Simply put, it fundamentally broke with the concept of sola scriptura. The Bible shows that Jesus, the apostles and the early Church all observed the seventh-day Sabbath (Luke 4:16, 31; Acts 17:2-3; Acts 18:4). So, if one was to rely solely on Scripture to decide doctrine, one would worship on the seventh day.To find the origin of Sunday worship, one has to consult extrabiblical history, which shows Sunday was gradually adopted (by some) beginning in the mid-second century. The first written evidence of Sunday worship is from a document written by Justin Martyr around A.D. 150. One of the primary motivations for the change to Sunday was a desire to not appear “Jewish.” In fact, early in its history, the Roman Church even imposed a weekly Saturday fast to show “contempt for the Jews” who observed the Sabbath as a feast (Kenneth Strand, ed., The Sabbath in Scripture and History, 1982, pp. 137-138).
In A.D. 321 Constantine the Great officially established Sunday as the day of rest throughout the Roman Empire. Constantine had been a devout sun worshipper most of his life, which might help explain why he enshrined dies solis (the day of the sun) as the official day of worship.
The history of Sunday is not a secret. To its credit, the Catholic Church is very honest about making this change. John A. O’Brien, in his book on Catholic theology, The Faith of Millions: The Credentials of the Catholic Religion, states the Catholic belief: “The Church received the authority to make such a change from her Founder, Jesus Christ. … The Church did not change the divine law obliging men to worship, but merely changed the day on which such public worship was to be offered” (1974, p. 400, emphasis added). Many other Catholic sources say the same thing.
Secular history and the Roman Church agree on this point: It was the Catholic Church that changed the Christian day of worship from the seventh day to Sunday—not the Bible. To see more evidence of this, read “When and How Did the Change in Worship From Saturday to Sunday Occur?”
