In the course of time, the distinction between church and synagogue growing wider, the Sabbath inevitably became less and less important and eventually fell into complete neglect among Chris- tians, whilst the Lord's Day survived as their special sacred day of the week. (No institution of like kind was known in paganism.) It must be remembered that St. Paul was opposed to the in- troduction of OT festivals (including the Sabbath) into the churches he founded among the Gentiles, ' declaring that by the adoption of them the Gentile believer forfeited the benefits of the gospel, since he chose to rest his salvation upon rites instead of upon Christ (Col 2^'^ ; cf. Gal 4'", Ro U^'-)' (G. P. Fisher, Beginnings of Christianity, 1877, new ed., 1886, p. 561 ; cf. Zahn, p. 189). We may reasonably conclude, indeed, that St. Paul himself, being one of the ' strong' (Ro 14^^- )> shared the view of those who esteemed ' every day alike,' and that all daj's Avere alike sacred in his eyes, whether Sabbaths, Lord's Days, or others.
But the observance of the Lord's Day must have been a very different thing from that of the Jewish Sabbath. The commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ alone would make a great difference. Whether or not the apostles saw what the issue Avould be when the first day of the week began to be thus observed (in however simple a way), they must have given the growing custom their approval and welcomed the association of acts of joyful worship and almsgiving with the day. St. Paul could have been no exception in this respect ; but apparently he did not foresee that the Christian ' first day ' might in time assume those very feat- ures of the Jewish * seventh day ' Sabbath which made him deprecate the introduction of this ancient
institution among Gentile Christians (see also art. Sabbath). i. Primitive modes of observing the Lord's Day.
— The fact that for Christians the one raison d'etre of the Lord's Day was the commemoration of the Lord's Resurrection made it a weekly fe.stival to be kept with gladness.
Somewhat later on, it is true, other associations were claimed for it as if to enhance the dignitj' of the da.y. K.g. a connexion with the first day of Creation and ever, with the Ascension was assumed ; though these were trifling compared with some mediaeval developments. Between the 11th and the 15th cen- turies we meet with a wide-spread fiction of a ' Letter from Heaven ' inculcating Sunday observance, wherein the largest claims are made for the day ; how that on it the angels were created, the ark rested on Ararat, the Exodus took place, also the Baptism of Jesus, His great miracles. His Ascension, and the Charism of Pentecost (see An English Miscellany, in honour of Dr. Fumivall, Oxford, ISOl).
<rt) We are frequently reminded by early Chris- tian writers that it was the primitive custom to stand for prayer on that day instead of kneeling as on other days. Tertullian, amongst others, dilates on this (de Orat. xxiii.). Canon 20 of the Council of Nica;a plainly reflects a very old custom, as it enjoins that ' seeing there are some who kneel on Sunday and in the days of Pentecost . . . men should offer their prayers to God standing.'
(b) Cessation from all work does not appear to have been required in primitive times as an ele- ment in the observance of the day. So long as there were meetings for religious woi-ship. Chris- tians were not expected to cease from manual labour. But so far as Jewish Christians were con- cerned, if they observed Sabbath in such a way, they would hardly be likely to observe the day immediately following in the same way as well. For the rest it may be questioned whether social conditions made it practicable. We can hardly argue back to apostolic times from customs obtain- ing in society nominally Christian under nominally Christian government. Old Roman laws in pre- Christian times provided for the suspension of business (particularly in the law courts) on all ferice or festivals. It was the Emperor Constan- tino who at length ordered that the same rule should apply to the Lord's Day, thus bestowing honour on the day as a fixed weekly festival (see Bingham, Antiquities of the Christian Church, bk. XX. ch. ii.). It is noticeable that in Ignatius [ad Magn. ix. [see above]) Christians are exhorted to keep Sabbath ' after a spiritual manner, re- joicing in meditation on the Law ' ; and absten- tion from work is expressly discountenanced, while rest from laboitr is not deuianded for the observance of the Lord's Day. Later on the practice uf using Sundaj' as a day of rest from work came into vogue ; and then it served as a sign distinguishing Christian from Jew.
Considerable light on this point is incidentally gained from the 29th Canon of the Council of Laodicea (4th cent.) — light as to what had long been the practice of Christians who clung to Jewish antecedents, and as to the conditions then prevailing. It reads : ' That Christians must not act as Jews by refraining from work on the Sabbath, but must rather work on that day, and, if they can, as Christians they must cease work on the Lord's Day, so giving it the greater honour.'