The following three reasons (given by a seminary professor, John H. Gerstner, of more than 30 years) are outlined to refute the insistence on the perpetual obligation to observe the Lord’s Day on Saturday. My purpose in this article is show that in order for men to refute 7th Day Sabbath Keeping, they have to always use assumption as their means of interpreting scripture and ignore clear Biblical evidence of Sabbath observance throughout the entire record of Acts. My personal comments are in blue, while all other words are those of Professor John H. Gerstner.(Gerstner) First, although the Sabbath Day is perpetually binding as a part of the moral law, it does not follow that ancient legal features of that day are likewise necessarily binding—certainly not if there is evidence that they have been altered by later revelation. The particular day of the week is surely unimportant. A seventh day may be essential, but which seventh day could not possibly be essential. Just as Saturday could have originally been most appropriate as symbolic of the day of rest after creation, so Sunday could later become most appropriate as the day of rest after redemption. The Hebrew word for “Sabbath” means, “rest,” not “Saturday.” Saturday was shown to be the intended Sabbath, when God gave a double portion of manna on the preceding day. In the new dispensation Sunday was shown to be the intended Sabbath when God raised His Son on that day. Notice that up front Mr. Gerstner freely admits the Sabbath Day is perpetually binding as a part of the moral law – the Ten Commandments. Yet he dismisses the perpetual binding of the command because all the other legal features attached to the command are not in force, so the command must not be either. An example of the other legal features Mr. Gerstner makes reference to were such as stoning the man who violated the Sabbath day, etc. But “Thou shalt not commit adultery” also has such legal features. Are we to say that there is no longer a commandment against adultery unless we also practice stoning the man who commits it? Mr. Gerstner also dismisses the importance of the seventh day as the Sabbath with absolutely no grounds of authority. And then proceeds to declare that Sunday was intended to be the new day for the Sabbath because Jesus arose on that day. The bases for this are pure assumption with no Biblical facts.(Gerstner) Second, the New Testament does indicate that just such a change was made. Christ arose on Sunday, appeared on Sunday, the disciples assembled on Sunday, offerings were made on Sunday, and John was in the Spirit on Sunday.Note: The proof Mr. Gerstner sets forth for Sunday being the new Christian Sabbath is pure assumption or supposition – (the act of believing something to be true without evidence). He assumes that because Christ arose on Sunday – that Jesus appeared to the disciples on Sunday – that offerings were made on Sunday – and that John was in the Spirit on Sunday – that all these prove or represent Biblical evidence that Sunday had become by divine appointment, approved by God and sanctioned by the Apostles the new Christian Sabbath Day. This is dangerous interpretation. If assumption is a proper means of forming doctrine, then scripture looses its sole authority for sound doctrine. Through assumption we can boldly teach:•Seeing as tithing (tithing –I’m not speaking about giving) is not a New Testament practice that can be found in the New Testament, it must not be a command or an exhortation for the church today. Rather Old Testament practice must be carried over into the church to establish tithing.•Seeing that Jesus turned water into wine and Paul exhorted a Christian leader to drink wine for his stomach sake that wine drinking is a New Testament doctrine that was practiced and taught to the church.•. . . the examples of forming doctrine by assumption could go on and on . . . . . (Gerstner) The third reason grows out of the second and serves as a distinct confirmation of it. The practice of the early church revealed an early observation of Sunday as the new Sabbath, although the old Sabbath was observed when the church was still a part of Israel. Biederwolf has conveniently gathered the statements from the early Fathers:Note again, that Mr. Gerstner openly admits that the early church practiced seventh day Sabbath keeping but uses statements from what he calls “early Fathers” as divine authority to ignore the Bible example of the church observing the seventh day Sabbath.The Epistle of Barnabas (A.D. 100) says, “Wherefore also we keepthe eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose from the dead.”Have you ever read the Epistle of Barnabas? It is amusing. Let me share just a few quotes from others about this epistle Mr. Gerstner holds up here as authority

r. Killen, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church of Ireland, uses the following language: —“The tract known as the Epistle of Barnabas was probablycomposed in A.D. 135. It is the production, apparently, of aconvert from Judaism who took special pleasure in allegoricalinterpretation of Scripture.”9 Prof. Hackett bears this testimony: — “The letter still extant, which was known as that of Barnabas even in the second century, cannot be defended as genuine.” Mr. Milner speaks of the reputed epistle of Bananas as follows: — “It. is a great injury to him to apprehend the epistle, which goes by his name, to be his.”Kitto speaks of this production as — “The so-called epistle of Barnabas, probably a forgery of the second century.”Says the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, speaking of the Barnabas of the New Testament: — “He could not be the author of a work so full of forced allegories, extravagant and rrantable explications of Scripture, together with stories concerning beasts, and such like conceits, as make up the first part of this epistle.”The above are only a few of such quotes that could be given. So why would anyone stoop to use this book as evidence for New Testament doctrine?The Epistles of Ignatius (A.D. 107), a pupil of the apostles whose writings were commended by Polycarp, a friend of St. John’s, says: “And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s day ~s a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all days.“Those who were concerned with old things have come to newnessof confidence, no longer keeping Sabbaths, but living according to the Lord’s day, on which our life as risen again through Him depends.”Robinson, an eminent English Baptist writer of the last century, expresses the following opinion of the epistles ascribed to Ignatius, Barnabas, and others: — “If any of the writings attributed to those who are called apostolic Fathers, as Ignatius, teacher at Antioch, Polycarp, at Smyrna,Barnabas, who was half a Jew, and Hemas, who was a brother to Pius, teacher at Rome, if any of these be genuine, of which there is great reason to doubt, they only prove the piety and illiteracy of the good men. In the writings of Justin Martyr (A.D. 145), it is said, “But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day of the week and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead.”For some time Jewish Christians continued to keep both the Sabbath and Sunday, but according to Justin Martyr such believers were to be accommodated as weak brothers. He says in his Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 47: “But if some, through weakmindedness, wish to observe such institutions as were given by Moses, along with their hope in Christ, yet choose to live with the Christians and the faithful, as I said before, not inducing them either to be circumcised, like themselves, or to keep the Sabbath, or to observe any other such ceremonies, then I hold that we ought to join ourselves to such, and associate with them in all things as kinsmen and brethren.”Apostolic Constitutions (Second Century): “On the day of the resurrection of the Lord, that is, the Lord’s day, assemble yourselves together without fail, giving thanks to God and praising Him for those mercies God has bestowed upon you through Christ.”Dionysius of Corinth (A.D. 170), in an epistle to the Church of Rome, wrote: “Today we kept the Lord’s holy day in which we readyour letter.”Melito of Sardis (A.D. 175) wrote a treatise on “The Lord’s Day.”Irenaeus (A.D. 160—200) says: “The mystery of the Lord’s resur¬rection may not be celebrated on any other day than the Lord’s Day and on this alone should we observe the breaking of the Paschal Feast.”Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 174) says: “The old seventh day hasbecome nothing more than a working day.”Bard esanes (A.D. 180) says in his book of the Laws of theCountries, “On one day, the first of the week, we assemble ourselves together.”Tertullian (A.D. 200) says in his Apologeticus; “In the same way if we devote Sunday to rejoicing, from a far different reason than sun-worship, we have some resemblance to some of you ‘The Jews,’ who devote the day of Saturn [Saturday] to ease and luxury.” In another of his works he says: “He who argues for Sabbath keeping and circum¬cision must show that Adam and Abel and the just of old times observed these things.... We observe the day of the Lord’s resur¬rection laying aside our worldly business.~~Origen (A.D. 185—255) says: “John the Baptist was born to make ready a people for the Lord, a people fit for Him at the end of the Covenant now grown old, which is the end of the Sabbath.", “It is one of the marks of a perfect Christian to keep the Lord’s day.Victorianus (A.D. 300) says: “On the Lord’s day we go forth to our bread with the giving of thanks. Lest we should appear to observe any Sabbath with the Jews, which Christ himself the Lord of the Sabbath in his body abolished” (On the Creation of the World, section 14).Peter, Bishop of Alexandria (A.D. 306), says: “But the Lord’s daywe celebrate as the day of joy because on it He rose again.”Eusebius (A.D. 324) of the Ebionites says: “They also observed the Sabbath and other discipline of the Jews just like them, but on the other hand, they also celebrate the Lord’s Day very much like us” (Ecclesiastical History, pages 1 12f.).All the quotations from writings that reveal Christians in the church observing the Sabbath, are all quoted attempting to prove these Christians as rebellious or slow to conform to the larger church at hand. These quotes leave out the reality of the church’s apostasy. They fail to consider that the church at large was keeping Sunday as an act of its apostasy. They fail to present the question, “Could these Sabbath keeping Christians be the remnant church surviving such apostasy?” Did you notice that nowhere do these writers ever refer to Sunday as the Sabbath? It’s clear that the Sabbath has been taken out of the Sunday observanceThe writings of early Christians are valuable and useful to help us see the strengths and the weaknesses of the church at the time of the writing. But never should such writings be regarded as authority to establish doctrine. Again, The purpose of this post is to demonstrate the depth of weakness one must plunge into to attempt to prove with authority that Sunday is the new Christian Sabbath.