THE SUNDAY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2325, 1 March 1892, Page 2

THE SUNDAY.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— -In my last I dealt with the Jewish Sabbath. On this occasion I will treat the subject of Sunday. In commemoration of Christ’s resurrection the Church (Roman Catholic) observes Sunday. The observance does not rest on the natural law, which does, indeed, require us to give certain time to the worship of, God but not a whole day rather than parts of several days, much less any particular day, nor, again, on any positive divine law, of which there is no trace. Sunday is merely any ecclesiastical institution, dating, however, from the time of the Apostles. Such is the opinion of St. Thomas (2 2ndse, cxxii., ad 2), and of the greatest Catholic theologians (so Billuart, “De Relig.” diss. vi., a. 1; Turrecrem., Thom., Wald., Cajetan, Sylvius, and others whom Billuart cites). The rule of the Church referred to obliges her people to attend service in the morning and rest from servile work, with exceptions re latter. I proceed to trace the history of the observance. In a single passage of the N.T. —viz., Apoc., i., 10—we find a special name for the first day of the week, “ The Lord’s Day.” In Acts, xx., 7, we are told that St. Paul abode seven days at Troas, and that on the first day of the week the disciples came together “ to break bread.” The same Apostle writes to the Corinthians (I. Cor., xvi., 1, seq.), “ Every first day of the week let each of you lay up at home and collect whatever profit i he had made,” words which do not indeed directly imply that there was public service on Sunday, but they do seem to indicate that Sunday was already a sacred day, on which deeds of love were specially suitable. Heb,, x., 25 shows this much : that the Christians, when the Epistle was written, had regular days of assembly. The scriptural reference given above show that the observance of Sunday had begun in the Apostolic age; but, even were scripture silent, tradition would put this point beyond all doubt. While, however, Sunday was observed from the first, it is possible to trace several stages in its observance. The earliest Fathers speak of the assembly for worship, and especially for the celebration of the Eucharist- As this is well known, the following references will suffice: Ep. Barnab., 15; Ignat., ad Magnes., 9 ; Justin Mart., 1., Apol. 59; , Dionys., Corinth., (apud Euseb, “ H.E.,” iv., 23); Tertull., Apol., 16; “De Coron,” 3. These authors speak of Sunday, which they call the “ Lord’s Day,” the “ Day of the Lord’s Resurrection,” and sometimes, but only in addressing the heathen, the “Day of the Sun” (see Probst., “ Kirchliche Discipline in den ersten drei Jahrhund.” p. 247), as a day of sacred joy and prayer. But we know of only one passage in any Ante-Nicene Father which alludes to the Sunday rest. Tertullian, after mention of the ritual usage, according to which Christians on Sunday prayed standing, not kneeling, adds that on that day business was put aside that the soul might be left free for God’s service (“ differentea etiam negotia ne quern diabolo locum demus,” “De Orat.,” 23). Here was the contrast between Sabbath and Sunday. The former was primarily a day of rest from work, and, although the morning and evening sacrifices were doubled on the Sabbath, no law of Sabbatical worship was imposed on the Israelite. Attendance on the prophets, and afterwards on the synagogue, arose naturally out of the enforced cessation of ordinary work. The Sunday, on the other hand, was primarily a day of prayer, and the words in the Apocalypse strike the keynote of Sunday observance: “ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” The law of rest arose as a protection to the law of worship. When Christianity became, or was on the way to become, the religion of the State it was necessary to pass some law of rest; otherwise a Christian who kept Sunday might obviously suffer inconvenience from being summoned to court, to military exercise, &c., or even from the competition of his heathen rivals in trade. Hence Constantine, as Eusebius reports, required his subjects to rest on the feasts of Our Lord (also on Fridays, if Valesius is correct in his translation), and on Sundays the Christian soldiers were exempted from work that they might have leisure to pray (Euseb., “ Yit., Constant.,” iv., 18). A long series of Imperial enactments on the subject are to be found in Roman codes. An edict of Constantine prohibited law business, and mechanical arts in towns, though the country people were allowed to till the ground on that day. Later Emperors not only closed the law courts, but also the theatre and circus on that day. The decrees of the Councils also became more and more stringent. (For these and the decrees of the Roman Catholic Church re Sunday see “Cat. Die.,” W.E.D., S.P., and T.A., M.A., pages 782-4.) Sunday used to be reckoned from evening to evening— i. e., the sanctification

of the day began on Saturday and ended qu Sqnday evening. “It was,” says Tbpiqagsin, abqqt the eleventh or or twelfth centqry that, after the abolition of public vigils in the Church, people began the celebration of Sundays and OU the morning of the same day.” He quotes Gratiau (“ De Oonsec,” d. 3, c. 1), Gregory D£. (“ de Perils,” c. 1,2), who recognise the old custom; Alexander 111. (i.bj, who speaks of both customs » s existing in his time; and ilaytho, Bishop of Basle, in his Capitulary (cap. 8), who says simply that Sunday lasts “a mane usque ad vesperum” Much more remains to be said on the subject. Any honestly “mystified” individuals —save those who uaVC an f*M to grind ! —search for enlightenment through other sources than newspapers on subjects of this nature. The Churches of all those who are “mystified” places the Bible in their hands as their guide. Let “ Mystified ” read it, and if he becomes more “ mystified ” than before that is his own look out.—Thanking you for your kindness, I am, etc., Orthodox,