How important is Sabbath day or Day of the Lord observance for Christians today

I tried to do a search on the Web, but got stuck with most articles focusing on whether Christians keep Saturday or Sunday as a Holy Day. That is NOT my question. Can anybody direct me to a source that has some ideas about actual percentage observance of a day of rest? Is this even preached by most churches?

During the times of Chariots of Fire, the Sabbath day or Day of the Lord observance was VERY important. Is there a book or article that I can read about how Christians today look upon a day of rest?

So once again, I understand perfectly well the difference between the terms Sabbath Day and Day of the Lord, and am NOT looking for information on the topic of whether Saturday or Sunday worship is correct. I want to know, do Christians today think that keeping one day a week holy, where they do not shop, do not go to sports activities, etc., but go to Church and center their activities around God is important to them? What percentage of Christians think this is important? Are there some denominations more likely to keep an actual day separate from the rest for worship beyond just attending church services? Is there a Web page I can trust to represent Christians in general on the topic of whether keeping one day in the week Holy is important? Thanks for your patience in reading this long question.

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mab

The emphasis on Sabbath rest is, as you observed, largely lost in the modern church. I have noted with delight, that D.L. Moody took a stance on the principles that would startle most churchgoers today. I would recommend this book. It's on Vyrso.

https://vyrso.com/product/12761/the-rest-of-god

FWIW, the Puritans had a great grasp on the importance of it.

Robyn VH.

This doesn't quite answer your question but maybe the author has done the research. http://thesabbathexperiment.blogspot.co.nz/

I have just read the book on logos and found it very insightful

https://vyrso.com/product/65633/the-sabbath-experiment-spiritual-formation-for-living-in-a-non-stop-world

Stephen Terlizzi

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847276#Comment_847276

Here is what the Catholic Church teaches about Sunday as a day of rest:

A day of grace and rest from work

2184 Just as God “rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done,”¹²¹ human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord’s Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives.¹²² (2172)

2185 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.¹²³ Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health. (2428)

The charity of truth seeks holy leisure; the necessity of charity accepts just work.¹²⁴

2186 Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery. Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week. Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life. (2447)

2187 Sanctifying Sundays and holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord’s Day. Traditional activities (sport, restaurants, etc.), and social necessities (public services, etc.), require some people to work on Sundays, but everyone should still take care to set aside sufficient time for leisure. With temperance and charity the faithful will see to it that they avoid the excesses and violence sometimes associated with popular leisure activities. In spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees. (2289)

2188 In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church’s holy days as legal holidays. They have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect, and joy and defend their traditions as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of society. If a country’s legislation or other reasons require work on Sunday, the day should nevertheless be lived as the day of our deliverance which lets us share in this “festal gathering,” this “assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.”¹²⁵ (2105)

¹²¹Gen 2:2.

¹²² Cf. GS 67 § 3.

¹²³ Cf. CIC, can. 1247.

¹²⁴ St. Augustine, De civ. Dei 19, 19: PL 41, 647.

¹²⁵Heb 12:22–23.

Catholic Church. (1997). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed., pp. 527–528). Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

I hope this helps.

Agape,

Steve

Allen Browne

... do Christians today think that keeping one day a week holy, where they do not shop, do not go to sports activities, etc., but go to Church and center their activities around God is important to them? ...

The best way to answer that question might be to draw you attention to this book:

https://vyrso.com/product/39450/perspectives-on-the-sabbath

It provides a variety of answers, from different perspectives. And it's quite a good summary.

Lee

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847308#Comment_847308

You can also check this one by Carson. https://www.logos.com/product/121454/from-sabbath-to-lords-day-a-biblical-historical-and-theological-investigation

Gregorio Billikopf

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847315#Comment_847315

Thanks so much for these responses. Would this article represent mainstream Christian thought?

http://www.metropolitantabernacle.org/Christian-Article/Remember-the-Lords-Day-Is-there-Christian-Sabbath/Sword-and-Trowel-Magazine

Best, Gregorio

Gregorio Billikopf

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847264#Comment_847264

Thanks, MAB. Do I sense a yearning for yesteryears in your resphones?

Allen Browne

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847341#Comment_847341

Thanks so much for these responses. Would this article represent mainstream Christian thought?
http://www.metropolitantabernacle.org/Christian-Article/Remember-the-Lords-Day-Is-there-Christian-Sabbath/Sword-and-Trowel-Magazine

No. That's only *one* of the angles you would find in "mainstream" Christian thought today.

The Perspectives on the Sabbath book I suggested presents other views that are at least as important/significant/influential as that one.

David Ames

I tried to do a search on the Web, but got stuck with most articles focusing on whether Christians keep Saturday or Sunday as a Holy Day. That is NOT my question. Can anybody direct me to a source that has some ideas about actual percentage observance of a day of rest? Is this even preached by most churches?

You might want to cross post into the Seventh-day Adventist forum. They worship on the Saturday Sabbath.

We currently do not have a Mormon forum. Their football team has forfeited championship games because they were to be played on Sunday - the day of worship for them.

Someone has already posted the 'rules' of the Catholic Church on Sabbath.

Most Christians worship on Sunday. But with Sunday Football and Sunday's with major sales events for someone from another world it would appear that most that use the name Christian are only worshiping one hour per week and not one full day per week.

Paulo Bechara

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847360#Comment_847360

Gregorio, I would recommend this book:

https://www.logos.com/product/42318/the-lost-meaning-of-the-seventh-day

Jerome Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847364#Comment_847364

Terrence D. O'Hare has written an extensive work on this subject titled The Sabbath Complete And the Ascendancy of First Day Worship, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2011. 395 pages.

The back cover features an endorsement by Craig L. Blomberg.

I have read this volume carefully through three times. I read the manuscript before publication at the request of a mutual friend, and Dr. O'Hare (doctor in the field of dentistry) mentions me in his acknowledgements, and sent me a copy of the book when published. He spent ten years doing the research for his book. It is a worthwhile volume to read, and goes into the subject of the opening post question thoroughly yet from some very unique angles. Readers will learn much about the subject they did not know before from this book. The work is well-documented, and includes an extensive Scripture index. Not available in the Logos library, far as I know.

Jeff Woodman

Dear Gregorio,

I was raised in the catholic church and love the people and learned a lot of Christian principles while going to school, being an altar boy etc. But as I got older and the Lord revealed some discrepancies in the RCC I went on a quest for truth. I have tried every mainstream denomination. I learned in some and had to unlearn others because we will be saved by grace through faith and faith cometh by hearing the word of God, Romans 10:17, the KJV bible. In my quest for truth I read many many books. Many of the older Protestant church pillars like Moody, Spurgeon, the Wesleys, ETC had a lot of good things to say, but when they would differ from God's holy word the KJV bible we must remove ourselves from their writings and place the bible in its proper place, as above all man's writings.

The most important thing to remember is to follow Paul's counsel to Timothy 2Tm:2:15: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." What is it we are suppose to be studying so that we do shew ourselves approved unto God? I do believe the ONLY thing for us to study is God's word. We can study the bible for eternity and still not exhaust its treasure of wisdom and knowledge. The conclusion I came to long ago was that when it pertains to God and my salvation I will only go to the source, the ONLY source that can be 100% relied on and that is God's holy word the KJV bible. To me all other translations are satanic counterfeits. You can find a counterfeit translation to tell you anything you want to hear, but when we study the KJV bible claiming the promise of John 14:26 which tells us that the Comforter guides us into all truth, we can be certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that He will not lead us astray. If everyone who professes the Name of Jesus understood John 14-17 there would be one denomination and one translation today.

So be careful that you weigh all uninspired books in the only true scale the word of God.

The forth commandment states "REMEMBER" and mankind forgot. If God said it I will do it. There is nowhere in God's holy word that says anything about the SUNday except that it is a work day just like the other five. It does not matter how many people do or believe something, it does not make it God's truth. over 1 billion catholics believe that Mary was immaculately conceived that does not make it truth.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847671#Comment_847671

Dear Jeff - your post is inappropriate as these are forums designed for software not theology. Read the forum guidelines and then please modify or omit this post via the More option in the upper right of the post. P.S. Gregorio is a professor who has not specifically identified his denominational allegiance.

mab

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847344#Comment_847344

Thanks, MAB. Do I sense a yearning for yesteryears in your resphones?

I'm getting old enough to be nostalgic, but the wisdom of the Sabbath goes all the way back to creation and I'm not that old.[;)]

Paul

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847765#Comment_847765

I may be wrong here MJ, but my understanding is that Jeff Woodman is simply saying that any citations from these books should properly be weighed against the primary authority - the Bible (the KJV). If it is acceptable for quotations for the Roman Catholic position (or other denominations) to be cited by reference to a text, then an admonition to weigh carefully what you read against Scripture is simply being sensible. From that perspective, it is about the relative authority and regard we place in the texts important to us. This is done fairly often in the forums and it is also pleasant to sometimes hear people sharing something about their own lives along the way. Keep well Paul

Gregorio Billikopf

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847845#Comment_847845

Thanks so much Paul, for your comments. I really appreciate them and it is nice to be able to speak from the heart, also. I have so many questions I wish to ask. Jeff, I wanted to thank you for your heart felt comments. Just a clarification, however. I am NOT looking to determine whether Saturday or Sunday corresponds to the Sabbath Day or Day of the Lord. For the sake of simplicity, in the rest of the post I will use the word Sabbath. And for the purposes of my question, I will define keeping the Sabbath day holy as setting this day aside from the rest. As modeled in the movie Chariots of Fire. One in which people move away from recreation, sports, and shopping and dedicate it fully to the Lord. (Please note I am aware of other definitions of keeping the Sabbath day holy, and it NOT my intent to start a debate on this question, either.) My questions are much more simple. Not what is right, but what is. I am looking for statistics.

I sense that very few few Christians today observe a day of rest anymore--as a day holy and separate. Do I sense correctly or am I mistaken?

(1) Is Sabbath day observance taught in the modern-day Christian pulpit anymore? Regardless of whether a Sunday or Saturday Sabbath is observed. What percentage of churches teach a Sabbath that is set apart from the rest of the week? I found multiple pages on the Web that teach that such Sabbath day observance is not needed anymore. Do these views represent the vast majority of Christian thought today?

(2) Second, if Sabbath day observance, as a day apart, is taught, is it followed by many in the Christian congregations?

Lynden O. Williams

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847856#Comment_847856

Gregorio, your best answer may need to come from either the United Nations (assuming they have such statistics) or a government website. Here is one that I found.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865653009/New-poll-finds-fewer-people-keep-the-Sabbath-than-in-the-70s-but-many-people-still-value-it.html?pg=all

This link will give you an idea of Seventh-day Adventist who keep the Sabbath.https://www.adventistarchives.org/quick-statistics-on-the-seventh-day-adventist-church

Gregorio Billikopf

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847868#Comment_847868

Dear Lynden,

That was great, just the type of thing I was looking for.

Blessings to you and everyone who has participated in this post.

Gregorio

Ben

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/847925#Comment_847925

It's a different category of book, and not available on Logos, but I enjoyed it. It's a descriptive history, not a theological argument.

Sunday: A History of the First Day from Babylonia to the Super Bowl (Doubleday)