Cyprian--Dionysius of Alexandria--Anatolius--Commodianus--Archelaus.
TESTIMONY OF CYPRIAN, BISHOP OF CARTHAGE.
Cyprian wrote about A. D. 255. I find only two references to Sunday in
his works. The first is in his thirty-second epistle (the thirty-eighth
of the Oxford edition), in which he says of one Aurelius that "he reads
on the Lord's day" for him. But in the second instance he defines the
meaning of the term, and gives evidence in support of his application
of it to the first day of the week. He is arguing in behalf of infant
baptism, or rather in controverting the opinion that baptism should
be deferred till the child is eight days old. Though the command to
circumcise infants when eight days of age is one of the chief grounds
of authority for infant baptism, yet the time in that precept according
to Cyprian does not indicate the age of the child to be baptized, but
prefigures the fact that the eighth day is the Lord's day. Thus he
says:--
"For in respect of the observance of the eighth day in the Jewish
circumcision of the flesh, a sacrament was given beforehand in
shadow and in usage; but when Christ came, it was fulfilled in
truth. For because the eighth day, that is, the first day after
the Sabbath, was to be that on which the Lord should rise again,
and should quicken us, and give us circumcision of the Spirit,
the eighth day, that is, the first day after the Sabbath, and the
Lord's day, went before in the figure; which figure ceased when
by and by the truth came, and spiritual circumcision was given to
us."--_Epistle_ lviii. sect. 4; in the Oxford edition, _Epistle_
lxiv.
Circumcision is made to prove twin errors of the great apostasy,
_infant baptism_ and that _the eighth day is the Lord's day_. But the
eighth day in the case of circumcision was not the day succeeding the
seventh, that is, the first day of the week, but the eighth day of the
life of each infant, and therefore it fell on one day of the week as
often as upon another. Such is the only argument addressed by Cyprian
for first-day sacredness, and this one seems to have been borrowed from
Justin Martyr, who, as we have seen, used it about one hundred years
before him. It is however quite as weighty as the argument of Clement
of Alexandria, who adduced in its support what he calls a prophecy of
the eighth day out of the writings of the heathen philosopher Plato!
And both are in the same rank with that of Tertullian, who confessed
that they had not the authority of Scripture, but accepted in its stead
that of custom and tradition!
In his "Exhortation to Martyrdom," section 11, Cyprian quotes the
larger part of Matt. 24, and in that quotation at verse 20, the Sabbath
is mentioned, but he says nothing concerning that institution. In his
"Testimonies against the Jews," book i., sections 9 and 10, he says
"that the former law which was given by Moses, was about to cease,"
and that "a new law was to be given;" and in the conclusion of his
"Treatise against the Jews," section 119, he says "that the yoke of the
law was heavy which is cast off by us," but it is not certain that he
meant to include in these statements the precepts of the moral law.
TESTIMONY OF DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA.
This father, who was one of Origen's disciples, wrote about A. D. 260.
In the first canon of his "Epistle to Bishop Basilides" he treats
of "the proper hour for bringing the fast to a close on the day of
Pentecost." He has occasion to quote what the four evangelists say
of the Sabbath and first-day in connection with the resurrection of
Christ. But in doing this he adds not one word expressive of first-day
sacredness, nor does he give it any other title than that of plain
"first day of the week." The seventh day is simply called "the
Sabbath." He also speaks of "the preparation and the Sabbath" as the
"last two days" of a six days' fast, at the anniversary of the week of
Christ's death.
TESTIMONY OF ANATOLIUS, BISHOP OF LAODICEA.
This father wrote about A. D. 270. He participated in the discussion
of the question whether the festival of Easter, or passover, should be
celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month, the same day on
which the Jews observed the passover, or whether it should be observed
on the so-called Lord's day next following. In this discussion he
uses the term Lord's day, in his first canon once, quoting it from
Origen; in his seventh, twice; in his tenth, twice; in his eleventh,
four times; in his twelfth, once; in his sixteenth, twice. These are
all the instances in which he uses the term. We quote such of them as
shed any light upon the meaning of it as used by him. In his seventh
canon he says: "The obligation of the Lord's resurrection binds to
keep the paschal festival on the Lord's day." In his tenth canon he
uses this language: "The solemn festival of the resurrection of the
Lord can be celebrated only on the Lord's day." And also "that it
should not be lawful to celebrate the Lord's mystery of the passover
at any other time but on the Lord's day, on which the resurrection
of the Lord from death took place, and on which rose also for us the
cause of everlasting joy." In his eleventh canon he says: "On the
Lord's day was it that light was shown to us in the beginning, and now
also in the end, the comforts of all present and the tokens of all
future blessings." In his sixteenth canon he says: "Our regard for the
Lord's resurrection which took place on the Lord's day will lead us to
celebrate it on the same principle."
The reader may be curious to know why a controversy should have arisen
respecting the proper day for the celebration of the passover in the
Christian church when no such celebration had ever been commanded.
The explanation is this: The festival was celebrated solely on the
authority of tradition, and there were in this case two directly
conflicting traditions, as is fully shown in the tenth canon of this
father. One party had their tradition from John the apostle, and held
that the paschal feast should be celebrated every year "whenever the
fourteenth day of the moon had come, and the lamb was sacrificed by
the Jews." But the other party had their tradition from the apostles
Peter and Paul that this festival should not be celebrated on that
day, but upon the so-called Lord's day next following. And so a fierce
controversy arose which was decided in A. D. 325, by the council of
Nice, in favor of Saint Peter, who had on his side his pretended
successor, the powerful and crafty bishop of Rome.
The term Lord's day is never applied to Sunday till the closing years
of the second century. And Clement, who is the first to make such an
application, represents the true Lord's day as made up of every day of
the Christian's life. And this opinion is avowed by others after him.
But after we enter the third century the name Lord's day is quite
frequently applied to Sunday. Tertullian, who lived at the epoch where
we first find this application, frankly declares that the festival of
Sunday, to which he gives the name of Lord's day, had no Scriptural
authority, but that it was founded upon tradition. But should not the
traditions of the third century be esteemed sufficient authority for
calling Sunday the Lord's day? The very men of that century who speak
thus of Sunday strenuously urge the observance of the feast of the
passover. Shall we accept this festival which they offer to us on the
authority of their apostolic tradition? As if to teach us the folly
of adding tradition to the Bible as a part of our rule of faith, it
happens that there are, even from the early part of the second century,
two directly conflicting traditions as to what day should be kept for
the passover. And one party had theirs from Saint John, the other had
theirs from Saint Peter and Saint Paul! And it is very remarkable that
although each of these parties claimed to know from one or the other
of these apostles that they had the right day for the passover and the
other had the wrong one, there is never a claim by one of these fathers
that Sunday is the Lord's day because John on the isle of Patmos
called it such! If men in the second and third centuries were totally
mistaken in their traditions respecting the passover, as they certainly
were, shall we consider the traditions of the third century sufficient
authority for asserting that the title of Lord's day belongs to Sunday
by apostolic authority?
TESTIMONY OF COMMODIANUS.
This person was a native of Africa, and does not appear to have ever
held any office in the Christian church. He wrote about A. D. 270. The
only allusions made by him to the Sabbath are in the following words
addressed to the Jews:--
"There is not an unbelieving people such as yours. O evil men! in
so many places, and so often rebuked by the law of those who cry
aloud. And the Lofty One despises your Sabbaths, and altogether
rejects your universal monthly feasts according to law, that ye
should not make to him the commanded sacrifices; who told you
to throw a stone for your offense."--_Instructions in Favor of
Christian Discipline_, sect. 40.
This statement is very obscure, and there is nothing in the connection
that sheds any light upon it. His language may have reference to the
ceremonial sabbaths, or it may include also the Sabbath of the Lord. If
it includes the Sabbath made for man it may be intended, like the words
of Isa. 1:13, 14, to rebuke the hypocrisy of those who profess to keep
it rather than to condemn the institution itself.
He makes only one use of the term Lord's day, and that is as obscure as
is his reference to the subject of the Sabbath. Here it is:--
"Neither dost thou fear the Lord, who cries aloud with such an
utterance; even he who commands us to give food even to our
enemies. Look forward to thy meals from that Tobias who always on
_every day_ shared them entirely with the poor man. Thou seekest to
feed him, O fool, who feedeth thee again. Dost thou wish that he
should prepare for me, who is setting before him his burial? The
brother oppressed with want, nearly languishing away, cries out at
the splendidly fed, and with distended belly. What sayest thou of
the Lord's day? If he have not placed himself before, call forth a
poor man from the crowd whom thou mayest take to thy dinner. In the
tablets is your hope from a Christ refreshed." Section 61.
Whether Commodianus meant to charge his brethren to relieve the hungry
on one day only of the week, or whether he held to such a Lord's day
as that of Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and others (namely, one that
includes every day of the life of him who refrains from sin), and so
would have his brethren imitate Tobias, who fed the hungry _every
day_, must be left undetermined. He could not have believed that Sunday
was the Lord's day by divine appointment, for he refers to the passover
festival (which rests solely upon the traditions and commandments of
men) as coming "once in the year" and he designates it as "Easter that
day of ours _most blessed_." Section 75. The day of the passover was
therefore in his estimation the most sacred day in the Christian church.
TESTIMONY OF ARCHELAUS, BISHOP OF CASCAR.
This person wrote about A. D. 277, or according to other authorities
he wrote not far from A. D. 300. He flourished in Mesopotamia. What
remains of his writings is simply the record of his "Disputation with
Manes," the heretic. I do not find that he ever uses the term "Lord's
day." He introduces the Sabbath and states his views of it thus:--
"Moses, that illustrious servant of God, committed to those who
wished to have the right vision, an emblematic law, and also a real
law. Thus, to take an example, after God had made the world, and
all things that are in it, in the space of six days, he rested on
the seventh day from all his works; by which statement I do not
mean to affirm that he rested because he was fatigued, but that he
did so as having brought to its perfection every creature which he
had resolved to introduce. And yet in the sequel it (the new law)
says: 'My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.' Does that mean,
then, that he is still making heaven, or sun, or man, or animals,
or trees, or any such thing? Nay; but the meaning is, that when
these visible objects were perfectly finished, he rested from that
kind of work; while, however, he still continues to work at objects
invisible with an inward mode of action, and saves men. In like
manner, then, the legislator desires also that every individual
among us should be devoted unceasingly to this kind of work,
even as God himself is; and he enjoins us consequently to rest
continuously from secular things, and to engage in no worldly sort
of work whatsoever; and this is called our Sabbath. This he also
added in the law, that nothing senseless should be done, but that
we should be careful and direct our life in accordance with what is
just and righteous." Section 31.
These words appear to teach that he held to a perpetual Sabbath,
like Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and others. Yet this does not seem
possible, inasmuch as, unlike Justin, who despises what he calls days
of "idleness," this writer says that we are "to engage in no worldly
sort of work whatsoever and this is that our Sabbath." It is hardly
possible that he could hold it a wicked thing to labor on one or all of
the six working days. Yet he either means to assert that it is sinful
to work on a single one of the days, or else he asserts the perpetual
obligation of that Sabbath which it is manifest he believed originated
when God set apart the seventh day, and which he acknowledges on the
authority of what "he also added in the law." We shall shortly come to
his final statement, which seems clearly to show that the second of
these views was the one held by this writer.
After showing in this same section that the death penalty at the hand
of the magistrate for the violation of the Sabbath is no longer in
force because of forgiveness through the Saviour, and after answering
the objection of Manes in sections 40, 41, 42, that Christ in healing
on the Sabbath directly contradicted what Moses did to those who in his
time violated the Sabbath, he states his views of the perpetuity of the
ancient Sabbath in very clear language. Thus he says:--
"Again, as to the assertion that the Sabbath has been abolished,
we deny that he has abolished it plainly (_plane_); for he was
himself also Lord of the Sabbath. And this (the law's relation
to the Sabbath) was like the servant who has charge of the
bridegroom's couch, and who prepares the same with all carefulness,
and does not suffer it to be disturbed or touched by any stranger,
but keeps it intact against the time of the bridegroom's arrival;
so that when he is come, the bed may be used as it pleases himself,
or as it is granted to those to use it whom he has bidden enter
along with him." Section 42.
Three things are plainly taught. 1. The law sacredly guarded the
Sabbath till the coming of Christ. 2. When Christ came, he did not
abolish the Sabbath, for he was its Lord. 3. And the whole tenor of
this writer's language shows that he had no knowledge of the change of
the Sabbath in honor of Christ's resurrection, nor does he even once
allude to the first day of the week.