8th Century Sabbath Observance COUNCIL OF FRIAUL, ITALY-A.D. 791 (CANON 13) "We command all Christians to observe the Lord's day to be held not in honour of the past Sabbath, but on account of that holy night of the first of the week called the Lord's day. When speaking of that Sabbath which the Jews observe, the last day of the week, and which also our peasants observe..." Mansi, 13, 851 PERSIA AND MESOPOTAMIA "The hills of Persia and the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates reechoed their songs of praise. They reaped their harvests and paid their tithes. They repaired to their churches on the Sabbath day for the worship of God." "Realencyclopaedie fur Protestatische and Krche," art. "Nestorianer"; also Yule, "The Book of ser Marco Polo," Vol.2, p.409. INDIA, CHINA, PERSIA, ETC "Widespread and enduring was the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath among the believers of the Church of the East and the St. Thomas Christians of India, who never were connected with Rome. It also was maintained among those bodies which broke off from Rome after the Council of Chalcedon namely, the Abyssinians, the Jacobites, the Maronites, and the Armenians," Schaff-Herzog, The New Enclopadia of Religious Knowledge," art. "Nestorians"; also Realencyclopaedie fur Protestantische Theologie und Kirche," art. "Nestorianer." COUNCIL OF LIFTINAE, BELGIUM-A.D.745 (ATTENDED BY BONIFACE) "The third allocution of this council warns against the observance of the Sabbath, referring to the decree of the council of Laodicea." Dr. Hefele, Counciliengfesch, 3, 512, sec. 362 CHINA-A.D.781 In A.D. 781 the famous China Monument was inscribed in marble to tell of the growth of Christianity in China at that time. The inscription, consisting of 763 words, was unearthed in 1625 near the city of Changan and now stands in the "Forest of Tablets," Changan. The following extract from the stone shows that the Sabbath was observed: "On the seventh day we offer sacrifices, after having purified our hearts, and received absolution for our sins. This religion, so perfect and so excellent, is difficult to name, but it enlightens darkness by its brilliant precepts." Christianity in China, M. I'Abbe Huc, Vol. I, ch.2, pp. 48, 49 [ Back ] [ Up ] [ Next ]