APPENDIX B
SCRIPTURAL REVIEW
OF
DIES DOMINI
1998 APOSTOLIC LETTER OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
ON
"KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY"
INTRODUCTION
Pope John Paul II issued the Apostolic Letter entitled Dies Domini on May 31, 1998, wherein he attempted scriptural justification for the catholic observance of Sunday, the first day, as the fulfillment of the keeping of God's seventh day sabbath as required by the Fourth Commandment. See Endnote 16 for the complete citation and internet location where Dies Domini is available for downloading and printing.
Additional excerpts of Dies Domini are discussed within the main text of this author's paper and are excluded from discussion herein. Only the more salient paragraphs, in this author's opinion, of the pope's letter are reviewed in this appendix, and a more exhaustive scriptural analysis is merited than is provided herein. Again, the reader is urged to read the complete Dies Domini. That being said, the following are examples as to why the seventh day (Saturday) is the only day provided by God for man to keep His seventh day sabbath as required by the Fourth Commandment.
A. MAN'S CHANGE OF GOD'S HOLY SABBATH DAY.
We have previously concluded that the celebration of Sunday as the "Lord's Day" in lieu of keeping God's seventh day sabbath is a tradition of man, wholly without scriptural justification. Let us now look to some of the pope's statements in Dies Domini wherein he explains the "theology" of how Sunday, in his opinion, not only replaces the seventh day sabbath, but fulfills the requirements of keeping the sabbath as well.
"13. The Sabbath precept, which in the first Covenant prepares for the Sunday of the new and eternal Covenant, is therefore rooted in the depths of God's plan. This is why, unlike many other precepts, it is set not within the context of strictly cultic(49) stipulations but within the Decalogue, the 'ten words' which represent the very pillars of the moral life inscribed on the human heart. In setting this commandment within the context of the basic structure of ethics, Israel and then the Church declare that they consider it not just a matter of community religious discipline but a defining and indelible expression of our relationship with God, announced and expounded by biblical revelation. This is the perspective within which Christians need to rediscover this precept today. Although the precept may merge naturally with the human need for rest, it is faith alone which gives access to its deeper meaning and ensures that it will not become banal and trivialized". Dies Domini, p. 6 of 39, see endnote 16.
The following observations are made to the pope's comments found in the above paragraph 13of Dies Domini,. First, scripture does not say that the mosaic covenant "prepares" for Sunday. The only day referenced by God when communicating all His commandments, judgments, laws and ordinances to Moses and the children of Israel is the seventh day sabbath. Second, there is no scripture mentioning or referring to "the Sunday of the new and eternal Covenant". This is a fabrication of man. Third, while it is true that the "decalogue" (the Ten Commandments) are the pillars of the moral life inscribed on the human heart, man has no right to render any one of those Ten Commandments of none effect by the tradition of man. Mk. 7:5-13. Finally, it is beyond belief how the pope can recognize the importance of the Ten Commandments, while at the same time advocate for the Sunday fulfillment of the Fourth Commandment duty to keep the sabbath. The two positions are entirely inconsistent and diametrically opposed to one another.
Let us look to another of the pope's paragraphs.
"18. Because the Third Commandment(50) depends upon the remembrance of God's saving works and because Christians saw the definitive time inaugurated by Christ as a new beginning, they made the first day after the Sabbath a festive day, for that was the day on which the Lord rose from the dead. The Paschal Mystery of Christ is the full revelation of the mystery of the world's origin, the climax of the history of salvation and the anticipation of the eschatological(51) fulfilment of the world. What God accomplished in Creation and wrought for his People in the Exodus has found its fullest expression in Christ's Death and Resurrection, though its definitive fulfilment will not come until the Parousia, when Christ returns in glory. In him, the "spiritual" meaning of the Sabbath is fully realized, as Saint Gregory the Great declares: "For us, the true Sabbath is the person of our Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ".(14) This is why the joy with which God, on humanity's first Sabbath, contemplates all that was created from nothing, is now expressed in the joy with which Christ, on Easter Sunday, appeared [p. 8 of 39] to his disciples, bringing the gift of peace and the gift of the Spirit (cf. Jn 20:19-23).(52) It was in the Paschal Mystery that humanity, and with it the whole creation, "groaning in birth-pangs until now" (Rom 8:22),(53) came to know its new "exodus" into the freedom of God's children who can cry out with Christ, "Abba, Father! (Rom 8:15;(54) Gal 4:6).(55) In light of this mystery, the meaning of the Old Testament precept(56) concerning the Lord's Day is recovered, perfected and fully revealed in the glory which shines on the face of the Risen Christ (cf. 2 Cor 4:6).(57) We move from the "Sabbath" to the "first day after the Sabbath", from the seventh day to the first day: the dies Domini becomes the dies Christi!"(58) Dies Domini, p. 7-8 of 39, see endnote 16, (emphasis added).
A number of responses are warranted to the above paragraph 18 of Dies Domini. First, the Fourth Commandment [catholic Third] depends on nothing. It is a commandment of God and stands on its own. Second, there is nothing wrong with christian recognition and celebration of the resurrection of Christ on Sunday or any day. But that in no way authorizes breaking God's sabbath commandment and the everlasting sabbath covenant. Third, the pope states that the "Paschal Mystery of Christ is the full revelation of the mystery of the world's origin". Within the Fourth Commandment itself, God tells us His will regarding recognition of His creation, and it has nothing to do with Sunday, the first day. As stated in the Fourth Commandment, God rested from His creation on the seventh day, "wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it". Ex. 20:11. The seventh day is holy to God and God tells us to keep it holy. Fourth, the "spiritual meaning of the Sabbath" is not fully realized in Christ, contrary to the pope's assertion. The thorough response to this false assertion is found within all previous pages ofthis paper. The concise response is as follows,
"For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day". Heb. 4:8.
Finally, there is no "meaning of the Old Testament precept concerning the "Lord's Day". The Old Testament (and the New Testament) speak exclusively to the seventh day sabbath of God. There is no scriptural support within the entire Bible for the "Lord's Day". All references in scripture to the "Lord's day" mean the day of judgment. Jesus kept the commandments of God, including the sabbath day. And Jesus taught us how to keep the sabbath, not break it. The pope can move all he wants from the seventh day sabbath to the first day "Lord's Day". But he is breaking a commandment of God, and teaching others to do the same, and that is a sin.
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men to do so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [20] For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven". Mt. 5:19-29.
The next Dies Domini paragraph for our discussion is No. 59,
"59. This aspect of the Christian Sunday shows in a special way how it is the fulfilment of the Old Testament Sabbath. On the Lord's Day, which -- as we have already said -- the Old Testament links to the work of creation (cf. Gn 2:1-3;(59) Ex 20:8-11)(60) and the Exodus (cf. Dt. 5:12-15),(61) the Christian is called to proclaim the new creation and the new covenant brought about in the Paschal Mystery of Christ. Far from being abolished, the celebration of creation becomes more profound within a Christocentric perspective, being seen in the light of the God's plan "to unite all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph 1:10).(62) The remembrance of the liberation of the Exodus also assumes its full meaning as it becomes a remembrance of the universal redemption accomplished by Christ in his Death and Resurrection. More than a "replacement" for the Sabbath, therefore, Sunday is its fulfillment, and in a certain sense its extension and full expression in the ordered unfolding of the history of salvation, which reaches its culmination in Christ". Dies Domini at p. 22-23 of 39 (emphasis added).
Again, scripture does not tell us that "the Christian Sunday" "is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Sabbath". Sunday worship in lieu of the Saturday sabbath is a tradition and a commandment of man. There is no difference between this "Lord's Day" loophole of the Fourth Commandment and the loophole created by the scribes and pharisees regarding the Fifth Commandment (honour thy father and thy mother). No difference whatsoever. See Section VII.E.3.b.i., "Beware the traditions of men" and Section VII.E.3.b.ii, "God's Fifth Commandment". God tells us to keep His seventh day sabbath. No where does scripture state that we are allowed to substitute the seventh day with another day of our own choosing, notwithstanding the best of intentions.
Let us now read the next two paragraphs of Dies Domini,
"60. In this perspective, the biblical theology of the "Sabbath" can berecovered in full, without compromising the Christian character of Sunday. It is a theology which leads us ever anew and in unfailing awe to the mystery of the beginning, when the eternal Word of God, by a free decision of love, created the world from nothing. The work of creation was sealed by the blessing and consecration of the day on which God ceased "from all the work which he had done in creation" (Gn 2:3). This day of God's rest confers meaning upon time, which in the sequence of weeks assumes not only a chronological regularity but also, in a manner speaking, a theological resonance. The constant return of the "shabbat" ensures that there is no risk of time being closed in upon itself, since, in welcoming God and his kairoi [sic] -- the moments of his grace and his saving acts -- time remains open to eternity". Dies Domini, p. 22 of 39, see endnote 16 (emphasis added).
"61. As the seventh day blessed and consecrated by God, the 'shabbat' concludes the whole work of creation, and is therefore immediately linked to the work of the sixth day when God made man "in his image and likeness" (cf. Gn 1:26). This very close connection between the "day of God" and the "day of man" did not escape the Fathers in their meditation on the biblical creation story. Saint Ambrose says in this regard: "Thanks, then, to the Lord our God who accomplished a work in which he might find rest. He made the heavens, but I do not read that he found rest there; he made the stars, the moon, the sun, and neither do I read that he found rest in them. I read instead that he made man and that then he rested, finding in man one to whom he could offer the forgiveness of sins".(106) Thus there will be for ever a direct link between the "day of God" and the "day of man". When the divine commandment declares: "Remember the Sabbath day in order to keep it holy" (Ex 20:8), the rest decreed in order to honour the day dedicated to God is not at all a burden imposed upon man, but rather an aid to help him to recognize his life-giving and liberating dependence upon the Creator, and at the same time his calling to cooperate in the Creator's work and to receive his grace. In honouring God's "rest", man fully discovers himself, and thus the Lord's Day bears the profound imprint of God's blessing (cf. Gn 2.3), by virtue of which, we might say, it is endowed in a way similar to the animals and to man himself, with a kind of "fruitfulness" (cf. Gn 1:22,28). This "fruitfulness" is apparent above all in filling and, in a certain sense, "multiplying" time itself, deepening in men and women the joy of living and the desire to foster and communicate life". Dies Domini, pp. 22-23, see endnote 16, (emphasis added).
In his Epistle to the Colossians, Paul appropriately gives us this warning,
"Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ". Col. 2:8.
The pope's paragraph 60 above tells us the "theology of the 'Sabbath'". Is theology any different from the philosophy Paul warns us about in Colossians 2:8? Theology is defined as "the science or study of divine things or religious truth; divinity". Webster's at 1471. Philosophy is defined as "the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct"? Webster's at 1082. Is not the pope telling us that our conduct needs to observe the first day, rather than the seventh day sabbath as commanded by God? And his paragraph 61states that God made man, and then rested, 'finding in man one to whom he could offer the forgiveness of sins'", and then concludes that there is a "direct link between the 'day of God' and the 'day ofman'". First of all, had Adam and Eve stayed obedient to God and not eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when tempted (Gen. 2:16-17), man would have had no sin for God to forgive. So much for the sole reason for God's rest as asserted by the pope. Secondly, God does not tell us He rested only because of His creation of man. The Word of God says "he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made". Gen. 2:2. Man's link to the seventh day sabbath is no more nor less than the link of all creation to God's seventh day of rest, excepting that God commands us to keep His holy seventh day sabbath.
Look again at Paul's warning, "Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ". Col. 2:8. Is it not a "vain deceit" for man to assert that He was so special to God that we are the sole reason God rested after creation? And look at Paul's use of the phrase "rudiments of the world". "Rudiment" means the "mere beginning, first slight appearance, or undeveloped or imperfect form of something". Webster's at p. 1251. Is not the pope attempting to justify his "Lord's Day" by linking it to creation, which is the "rudiment" (or beginning) "of the world"? And certainly the warning of Paul in Colossians 2:8 becomes more applicable when we realize that Jesus Christ observed the seventh day sabbath, and the pope's Sunday "Lord's Day" is a "tradition of man".
Another serious criticism of the pope's paragraph 61 is that he is grossly misstating the Word of God. Exodus 20:8, the first verse of four consisting of the Fourth Commandment, states, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy". Ex. 20:8 (KJV). The New American Bible, the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, states, "Remember to keep holy the sabbath day". Ex. 20:8 (NAB, 1995). The Catechism of the Catholic Church, approved by pope John Paul II and believed by catholics to be an infallible statement of the church's faith and catholic doctrine, quotes the commandment as:
"Article 3 - The Third Commandment Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy". http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/comm2.html.
Apparently the pope failed to read any of these. In his paragraph 62 above, the pope quotes the Fourth (his Third) Commandment as, "Remember the Sabbath day in order to keep it holy". (Emphasis added). The pope's quotation deceptively distorts the meaning of God's commandment. Of course, if one were advocating for fulfillment of the Fourth Commandment by substituting another day, it helps if you rework the scripture to better fit the tradition of man. But the Word of God does not say that we keep the sabbath holy simply by remembering it any time we want, contrary to the pope's assertion. We are to remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. And how do we do that. For a start, the Fourth Commandment in its entirety makes it abundantly clear that we are not to do any work on the seventh day. Does the Bible tell us to observe the first day, Sunday, as (to quote the pope) the "rest decreed in order to honour the day dedicated to God"? No. The Bible in every version tells us that we are to keep the seventh day sabbath. Period.
Finally, the pope's assertion in paragraph 61 that "the Lord's Day bears the profound imprint of God's blessing" is false. The seventh day is the only day the Bible in any version tells us is "blessed" by God. "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made". Gen. 2:3. The Bible does not say that God blessed the "Lord's Day". And of equal import, all Biblical references to the "Lord's Day" refer exclusively to the day of judgment, not the first day or Sunday. See Section VII.E.3.b.iii.f.4), "Scripture does not identify the "Lord's Day" as Sunday".
Let us look now to the next paragraph in Dies Domini,
"62. It is the duty of Christians therefore to remember that, although the practices of the Jewish Sabbath are gone, surpassed as they are by the "fulfilment" which Sunday brings, the underlying reasons for keeping "the Lord's Day" holy -- inscribed solemnly in the Ten Commandments -- remain valid, though they need to be reinterpreted in the light of the theology and spirituality of Sunday: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Then you shall do no work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your servant and maid, or your ox, or your ass, or any of your beasts, or the foreigner within your gates, that your servant and maid may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded that you keep the Sabbath day" (Dt 5:12-15). Here the Sabbath observance is closely linked with the liberation which God accomplished for his people". Dies Domini, p. 23 of 39, see endnote 16, (emphasis added).
The pope makes the bald assertion that "the practices of the Jewish Sabbath are gone". Based on what scripture? And what about the everlasting sabbath covenant? It can not be gone because God does not lie. And what scripture tells us that the "practices of the Jewish Sabbath" are "surpassed" "by the fulfillment which Sunday brings"? There is no scripture supporting the pope's assertions. This is a "philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men" of which Paul warns us of in Colossians 2:8. And the teaching of Jesus regarding the Fifth Commandment loophole of the pharisees is directly applicable, ". . . Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. . . ." Mk. 7:9. "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, . . ." Mk. 7:13.
Furthermore, the pope says in paragraph 62 that the reasons for keeping the "Lord's Day" holy are "inscribed solemnly in the Ten Commandments". Where? My Bible solemnly inscribes the reasons for keeping the seventh day sabbath holy, not man's tradition of the first day "Lord's Day". The pope does admit that the Ten Commandments,
"need to be reinterpreted in light of the theology and spirituality of Sunday".
Remember what Paul said, "Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ". Col. 2:8. No one, not even the pope, can reinterpret the Ten Commandments to legitimately change God's seventh day sabbath into the first day "Lord's Day". And if you do, you are distorting and misrepresenting the Word of God, and will be found to be a liar:
"Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. [6] Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar". Prov. 30:5-6.
The pope's next paragraph makes no sense as offered support for observance of Sunday the "Lord's Day" instead of keeping God's holy seventh day sabbath:
"63. Christ came to accomplish a new "exodus", to restore freedom to the oppressed. He performed many healings on the Sabbath (cf. Mt 12:9-14 and parallels), certainly not to violate the Lord's Day, but to reveal its full meaning: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mk 2:27). Opposingthe excessively legalistic interpretation of some of his contemporaries, and developing the true meaning of the biblical Sabbath, Jesus, as "Lord of the Sabbath" (Mk 2:28), restores to the Sabbath observance its liberating character, carefully safeguarding the rights of God and the rights of man. This is why Christians, called as they are to proclaim the liberation won by the blood of Christ, felt that they had the authority to transfer the meaning of the Sabbath to the day of the Resurrection. The Passover of Christ has in fact liberated man from a slavery more radical than any weighing upon an oppressed people -- the slavery of sin, which alienates man from God, and alienates man from himself and from others, constantly sowing within history the seeds of evil and violence". Dies Domini, p. 23 of 39, see endnote 16, (emphasis added).
Look at how the pope confuses the "Lord's Day" with the "Sabbath", using the two terms interchangeably. Christ's many healings were performed on the seventh day sabbath. How could those healings have violated the "Lord's Day", which the pope tells us is on the first day, Sunday? They could not have. The pope's confusion of the two days continues. It is absolutely true that Jesus said on several occasions that He is Lord of the Sabbath. See Section VII.E.3.b.iii.d., "Jesus Did Not Teach Us To Break the Sabbath". And it also would be true to state that Jesus opposed some of the pharisees' interpretations of "sabbath work". Logically, how can the pope make the conclusion that, somehow, those truths gave "Christians" "the authority to transfer the meaning of the Sabbath to the day of Resurrection"? The premises do not support the conclusion. There is nothing that Jesus did or said that can in any way be interpreted to authorize the transfer of the meaning of the sabbath from the seventh day to the first day. Remember,
"For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day". Heb. 4:8.
B. THE POPE'S CALL FOR LEGISLATION.
Let us next review the following statement made by the pope in Dies Domini, wherein he urges upon "Christians" to "strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy.
"67. . . . Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy. In any case, they are obliged in conscience to arrange their Sunday rest in a way which allows them to take part in the Eucharist, refraining from work and activities which are incompatible with the sanctification of the Lord's Day, with its characteristic joy and necessary rest for spirit and body". Dies Domini, p. 24-25 of 39, see endnote 16, (emphasis added).
Let me give you a hypothetical scenario. Picture if you will, a one world government during the period of tribulation. Presuppose that there will be no pre-tribulation rapture. Envision a recognized "world" religion that requires complete tolerance for all religious beliefs, a doctrine that all beliefs lead to salvation. Assume as well that under such a world religion, both "Judaism" and "Christianity" based solely from the Old and New Testaments (sola Scriptura) would not be in compliance because each teaches only a single means to salvation as the truth of God. Assume the one world government made the keeping God's seventh day sabbath (Saturday) a crime by recognizing a different day as the legislated day of rest (i.e., Sunday). Certainly the Jews would be imprisoned as every Shabbat, sabbath, is one of the holiest days in the Jewishcalendar. And the believers and followers of Jesus Christ that have God's Fourth Commandment written on their heart would be imprisoned as well. What would you do if a government made you choose between breaking a law of man or a commandment of God? Would you go to prison rather than break a commandment of God? What if the punishment were execution?
The point to be made is that any call for legislation to recognize one religious belief over another is very alarming and should be viewed with the gravest of concern.