100 Reasons to Believe New Testament History
58. Sunday Worship
It is a well-known fact that initially, the church was an exclusively Jewish assembly. Equally well known is the vast importance the Jewish mind placed on the Mosaic Law. Notable among these was the Sabbath Law; with is complex set of rules for the sixth day of the week (what we know as Saturday). It was on the Sabbath day when the Jews assembled in the Synagogues for worship and instruction.
With the inception of the church however, came a change in which day of the week believers began to assemble for corporate worship and mutual edification. Justin Martyr (c 150 A.D.) stated that the Christian church chose to meet on the first day of the week – what we know as Sunday A. What could have caused this change in such a significant and carefully guarded ordinance?
Only something big could have dissuaded Jewish believers from careful observance of the Sabbath as the focal point of the week. That something, according to the New Testament, was the resurrection Jesus Christ early Sunday morning. Sunday worship has persisted to this very day among Christians, supporting the New Testament declaration that the Lord defeated death early in the first day of the week B.
58. Sunday Worship - Notes and References
A. “And on the day called Sunday there is a gathering together to one place of all those who live in cities or in the country, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits.” From Justin’s “First Apology”, 1.67
The New Testament itself mentions the church gathering on the first day of the week: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them…” Acts 20:7 Paul stated: “Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” 1 Corinthians 16:2 According to Pliny the Younger, the Christians of his day (A.D. 112) were also “…in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god…” Pliny, “Letters”, 10.96
B. Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1