Ongoing pro-Sunday Sabbath campaigns – even resorting to trickery

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Campaigns for a Sunday Sabbath are already in full swing. Evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Church alike are vigorously stirring the pot of the “urgently needed” day of rest on the first day of the week. They are exploiting the usual misunderstandings and resorting to some rather underhanded tactics.

Christian observance of Sunday

“I just can’t listen to the news anymore. It’s too depressing” und “I’m done with politics” and “I just can’t listen to the news anymore. It’s too depressing”. With these words, the author of an opinion piece on MSN begins his ode to the necessity of a day of rest, a day when people can finally unwind and recover from all the stress. He fully understands that, with the flood of news and images, people simply want to switch off, tune out, and ignore it all.

The author, Reverend John E. Harnish, is a retired pastor of the United Methodist Church (Source).

The antidote to this has existed since time immemorial. An ancient remedy that dates back to the biblical creation story. This remedy is called “Sabbath,” according to the author. God worked on His creation for six days and rested on the seventh. God called this day “Sabbath.” The author then emphasizes that there are essentially two groups that observe this day to the present day. This is the case in the Jewish faith, and Seventh-day Adventists (SDA) also continue to refer to the seventh day as the Sabbath, as described in the creation account.

For Christians, however, things are different, he countered. The first day of the week has priority, and this is also the reason why church services are held on a Sunday. The principle, however, remains the same: to work during the week and rest on the seventh day. This allows one to draw new strength for one’s relationship with God, with friends, and with oneself. Therefore, it is time to find this rest in the Sabbath.

The usual game of confusion

It is obvious that the author, as a Methodist and a former Protestant, refers to the Sabbath he emphasizes as the first day of the week, i.e., Sunday. Indeed, the basic word “Sabbath” simply means “holiday” in the sense of rest (not partying). The author also highlighted that God defined the Sabbath as the seventh day of His creation. At least there’s that.

The author also notes that the seventh-day Sabbath is still observed by Jewish communities and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but fails to explain why the first day of the week should take priority for Christians. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that he clearly distinguishes between “Christian” and “SDA.”

At the very least, the usual confusion persists: the biblical term “Sabbath” is used for Sunday as a matter of course. This is a practice also employed at the political level (Project 2025 – Political Sunday Ambitions in the USA).

It will be “more solid”

The magazine “The Observer” really gets down to brass tacks when it comes to the sanctity of Sunday. This isn’t really surprising, since the magazine’s creators describe themselves as “an independent newspaper serving Notre Dame, St. Mary’s, and the Holy Cross.” They waste no time in making a statement in their article “Sunday scaries should be Sunday merries,” a statement that, at first glance, raises serious doubts about their credibility. (Source).

“While it is true that “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27), the obligation to rest on Sunday is not a dead letter of Judaism.“

A touch of fantasy

It’s quite a novelty to speak of a “Sunday rest obligation” in Judaism. Where did the author Richard Taylor actually pull this idea from? After all, it was the Roman Catholic Church itself that coined the term “Jewish Sabbath” to reinforce the binding nature of the papal-determined Sunday. The Roman Catholic Church explicitly and vigorously defends the introduction of Sunday (Info).

It is no use simply taking the papal-mandated Sunday for granted:
“The pattern of worship, rest and merriment on Sunday has been woven into our hearts through Creation and the Resurrection.“

Sunday – Loyalty Test

Then it gets “crackling”, although the author repeatedly refers only to the statements of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“How we spend our Sunday is a test of our priorities. When Sunday is not only not a day set aside for rest, but a day positively set aside for work, I think we are failing that test. When the library is never more crowded than on a Sunday afternoon, I think we are failing that test.“

Here is the quote presented from the Catechism (CCC 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,“

Another problem. Nowhere in the Gospels is “the Lord’s Day” defined as the first day of the week (Sunday). Instead, there are clear indications that the “Lord’s Day” refers to the seventh day (Sabbath) and to the final day when the Lord will return, and the number of such descriptions in the Bible is anything but small (Info).

Therefore, according to the author, God grants us the “great joy of Sunday.” In short: For the true believer, observing Sunday is a test of their faithfulness.

Complete reversal

This is pretty much the exact opposite of what the Gospel says. Revelation 7 describes the sealing of the “last 144,000.” These receive the seal of God. These are the ones who did not receive the seal of the beast, in other words, the Mark of the Beast.

God defined the seventh-day Sabbath as His seal, His mark, His sign of His authority—that true and living God who created all things and also leads (fallen) humanity out of the bondage of sin. The first day of the week, on the other hand, was created by the self-imposed arrogance of the papacy. This has been the case since its very inception and has been imposed on humanity ever since with increasing violence and tyranny. This is not an opinion, but a historical fact. (Info).

The concept of Sunday as a “Sabbath,” a “necessary day of rest,” is being intensified, and along the same lines, the observance of the true Seventh-Day Sabbath is being targeted with specific attacks. In doing so, they are not above resorting to outlandish and fanciful arguments. The already brewing wind is gaining strength.

The secular world, including non-Christians, is also catered for. There, the focus is on nature and environmental protection, which makes Sunday rest absolutely essential. The predominantly Muslim country of Pakistan is among the pioneers in this regard. The city of Lahore is tightening its grip in the ongoing “fight against smog,” imposing strict closing times for shops and businesses, especially on Sundays.

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)