Introduction to the Sabbath/Sunday Discussion

The following is a discussion of the Edenic Sabbath as opposed to the "Christian Sabbath" (Sunday). The question primarily in view is whether the obligation to keep the Edenic Sabbath was transferred from the seventh day of the week to the first day. This discussion was begun with specific ground rules of courtesy and Christian regard for one another. All segments of this discussion are posted completely unedited, except for the removal of the biographical materials to this segment for the sake of clarity.

The discussants are Ted Noel MD, webmaster of this site (for the sanctity of the seventh day), and Richard Bacon Ph.D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Rowland, Texas (for the sanctity of the first day). Each element of the discussion includes the date on which it was e-mailed.

Richard Bacon Ph.D.

(Tuesday, August 22, 2000)

Dear Dr. Noel,

Because you have indicated that you will be distributing portions or all of our discussions re the Sabbath to friends and acquaintances, I think I shall begin by introducing myself. I spent the first twenty years of my life altogether careless about the things of God. It was not until my twenty-first year that our good and gracious God was pleased to call me to himself by the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The commitment that I made at that time was to Scripture and Scripture alone. I understand the value of other studies and I encourage people to take up the study of as much of God's creation as their gifts will allow. But with respect to eternal verities, my opinion has not wavered in the thirty-some odd years since the day I first believed. The Bible alone is the truth of God and it is sufficient for all of life and godliness (John 17:3 cf. 2 Peter 1:3).

I therefore welcome a discussion of God's law and of the fourth commandment in particular as it is a subject much misunderstood and even opposed in our day. Scripture teaches that God is to be honored as he has appointed and not in any manner that may seem good to us (thus, e.g. Deuteronomy 12:32). It may become clear in the course of the discussion that my view of the Sabbath and of God's law generally is not that of modern evangelical Christianity. It will hopefully become clear from the outset that my view is not that of the Popish antichrist. Rather, my view of the Sabbath and of God's law is that which was held by the Reformers generally and the Puritans in particular.

Not only do I welcome a discussion of these matters, I especially welcome them with such a one as Dr. Noel appears from his correspondence to be. There have been some who have contended for Dr. Noel's position who are far from gracious in their demeanor. I have also discussed this issue in the past with Sunday keepers who were bewildered at best and discourteous and angry at worst. There is no place for anger in pursuing these matters. If the Bible leads us in one direction rather than another, we should be ready to thank God for revealing the correct direction to us by his word. After all, as the Psalmist says, his word is a light to our paths (Ps. 119:105). I thank God for the gracious spirit in which Dr. Noel contacted me, and while I do believe there are many significant differences in our understanding of Scripture I must say "amen" to his statement that the truth needs no defense.

One final word of introduction. I owe much of my present understanding of the Sabbath to one of the men God was pleased to use during my undergraduate years. The Rev. Dr. Francis Nigel Lee, now a citizen and professor in Brisbane, Australia first introduced me to many concepts in Scripture that have since become fundamental in my understanding of the Christian life. Not least among them was his awesome dedication to the covenantal Lord of the Sabbath. It is important that we understand from the outset that I do divide a question that many seventh day sabbatarians do not divide. It is not important that we agree from the outset, but my commitments will be suspect if it is not at least acknowledged that I do so (rightly or wrongly). The two questions are: 1) is God's Sabbath of perpetual obligation; and 2) was the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day Scriptural?

Before we begin, I wish to state clearly that my position is "yes" on both. My reason for making this statement in my introductory remarks is that for many, and perhaps most, seventh day sabbatarians answering "yes" to the first question removes the necessity for asking the second. If the Sabbath is of perpetual obligation, they reason, then there can be no change of the Sabbath. For them, the terms "Sabbath" and "Seventh Day" have the same referent. My position is that the Sabbath continues in force -- it has been preserved as it is an everlasting ordinance -- and yet the purpose for which creation was made has been fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ has given us significant biblical reason for celebrating the Sabbath rest on the first day of the week.

While it is my intention to follow a pan-biblical approach in studying the Sabbath question, three conclusions will emerge from the study and as a result of those three conclusions I reject their contradictories.

1. I affirm that the institution of the Sabbath rests upon the physical, moral, and religious nature of man. Man needs a physical rest; he needs to conform himself to the moral rest of God; and he needs the time of the weekly Sabbath to turn his attention to God. Therefore the Sabbath was made for man. 1A. I therefore reject the contradictory idea that the Sabbath was merely a Jewish institution that was abrogated together with the ceremonial and ritualistic trappings of their temple and sacrificial system.

2. I affirm that God himself instituted the Sabbath at the creation of man, setting aside the seventh day of every week for that purpose, and that he imposed its observance as a universal and perpetual moral obligation upon the human race. 2A. I therefore reject the contradictory idea that the first day of the week is a new Christian institution in nature, design, purpose, or obligation essentially different from the ancient Sabbath inaugurated for man at the creation and re-established in the fourth commandment of the decalogue.

3. I affirm that after the resurrection of Christ, instead of abrogating an old institution and replacing it with an altogether new institution, God through his inspired apostles perpetuated the Sabbath by re-establishing it with Christians with increased obligations and denoting that fact by changing it from the seventh to the first day of the week and granting it not only a new significance, but an even higher significance than the seventh day ever enjoyed. 3A. I therefore reject the contradictory idea that the observance of the seventh day of the week is of the essence of the Sabbath or of sabbath keeping and I reject the accusation that the change from the seventh to the first day of the week was made without divine authority.

I recognize that when we get to the point of actually discussing 3A, we shall have to discuss what counts as evidence for divine authority. I readily acknowledge that there is no single verse saying "the Sabbath is Sunday" any more than there is a single verse saying "God is triune." But we shall see if it is possible to come to good and necessary conclusions from the premises of Scripture alone, using the rules of sound grammatical-historical hermeneutics.

May the Lord of glory be pleased to sanctify us in our studies.

Pastor Richard Bacon, Ph.D. First Presbyterian Church, Rowlett TX 
Presbyterian Treasury

Zechariah 13:6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Ted Noel MD

(Sunday, September 03, 2000)

Biography of Ted Noel

Just so that the readers may know who the discussants are, Dr. Bacon has introduced himself, and now I will introduce myself. I am 47 years old, married with two daughters of my own (ages 14 and 18) and two daughters (ages 32 and 34) acquired in my second marriage. From those daughters I have four grandchildren (ages 3, 4, 5, and 13). I have practiced medicine (anesthesiology) in the Orlando, Florida area for the past 20 years.

I was raised Seventh-day Adventist, but left the church in college because the words meant nothing and I was offended by the conduct of the "faithful." I was in and out of the church after that until my divorce, when I dumped all religion with a great sense of relief.

I married Nancy in 1988, and about 1992 began attending the Nazarene Church with her simply to be a good husband. As circumstances developed, the summer of 1993 became my darkest hour, and at that time Christ finally got my attention. Soon after, he gave me a hunger for the scriptures that only gets deeper as time passes. My studies initially were directed toward the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, but one day the Nazarene pastor preached on the Sabbath. His message was basically "pick a Sabbath, God wants you to take a day off." This got me studying.

(By the way, I don't want this to seem uncomplimentary toward Pastor Page. He is a wonderful friend, spirit filled, who does a powerful work for God. It's just that the Holy Spirit caused me to hear the message that way.)

After a week of concentrated study, I found that I could no longer ignore the Biblical Sabbath. I turned down a nomination to the Nazarene church board, and moved to the Seventh-day Adventist church. My studies have continued in a number of directions. They led to my website, The Bible Only, and indirectly to this discussion.

I have no formal theological training. But God has given me an analytical talent which I have used for years in medicine. Now it is applied to the gospel, and I pray used well in separating truth from fiction. The reader will have to judge. May all be to the glory of God.

By the way, I use the New American Standard translation unless I otherwise note.