© Edward Moore, S.T.L., Ph.D. patristics@gmail.com
For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believeth might be gathered together to God.
(Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, ch. 10, "Against the Judaizers")
Billions of people proclaim to be Christians today, yet how many of them know anything more than what their poor biblical translations and under-educated pastors tell them? Not much. For many years my opinion of the Seventh Day Adventists had been that they were merely misguided Judaizers, yet active in their community, and basically living a "Christian life" (whatever that means). But my recent experience at a Seventh Day Adventist "Church" in New Brunswick, NJ has taught me otherwise. Now perhaps not all Adventists are as odious as the ones I encountered in my visit. Before I go into my description of my experience and attendant diatribe, I will provide some theological reasons for why this group is simply wrong.
Further, He says to them, “Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot endure.”Ye perceive how He speaks: Your present Sabbaths [i.e., the Jewish Sabbath] are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens.
This rather esoteric passage from chapter 15 of the Epistle of Barnabas is only difficult for those who have not followed the history of the notion of "the eight day." I will not take up space with Philo of Alexandria (a Platonizing Jew roughly contemporaneous with St. Paul) who made a fine argument for cosmic reasons for the Sabbath. Instead, I shall provide a brief synopsis of the authentic Christian doctrine of the Sabbath, as put forth by the earliest Church Fathers (whom hardly any Christians read anymore, except Catholics and Orthodox)
To begin, Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, not a Saturday. The incarnation of Christ was a major event, no doubt, but his resurrection caused everyone, I imagine, to have shat their pants. This is why an all-around change of mind concerning the Sabbath occurred. The history of the conflict between Judaizing Christians and the more "liberal" Pauline followers of The Way is far too complex to deal with here, but a quote from an early Church Father will suffice:
[We] and the Greeks know the same God, though not in the same way, he will infer thus: “Neither worship as the Jews; for they, thinking that they only know God, do not know Him, adoring as they do angels and archangels, the month and the moon. And if the moon be not visible, they do not hold the Sabbath, which is called the first [i.e. Sunday] (Clement of Alexandria, Stromata IV.5)
This statement from the wise Clement shows that even though early Christians observed Christ's Resurrection on Sunday, some of them still practiced it according to Jewish Tradition, that is, if the moon was not visible, the Sabbatical customs could not be observed (literally and figuratively, I suppose; the nights were pretty dark back then). Christians back then (first and second centuries) were well aware that a major change had occurred in the cosmos: the divine logos had come to earth, fulfilled the old Law and set free the souls who who were laboring in darkness (the Gentiles) and opened the gates of Heaven for all who would follow Christ. The absence of the moon, in other words, doesn't means a rat's ass to those who are attuned to the spiritual musical of Christ. The numerous warnings against "Judaizing" in many of the early followers -- Ignatius, Polycarp, Barnabas, and others) -- shows that a true Christians worships Christ, and through Him, the Father. The day of the Lord's Resurrection is the new Sabbath, a change of cosmic course, if you will. For a Christian, nothing can be holier than the day that their savior rose from the dead, which is called the "eighth day," for it occurred outside of ordinary human time.
This was a very brief explication, and I'm sure to get some nasty mail from Seventh Day Adventists. Don't waste your time, please. I am an atheist but I know Christian theology better than most Cardinals. Now, on to the disgusting thing called "worship" that I recently witnessed at a Seventh Day Adventist -- and these are the actual words of the "pastor" -- franchise. The first thing I saw as I entered the place were a bunch of children being handed collection baskets. As my girlfriend and I proceeded through the nest of sweaty humanity (the air conditioning was either off or not working -- on a 98 degree day, where we live). We finally squeezed our mutually diminutive bodies into a pew and began to listen. Some typical prayers were spit out; but I was appalled that no prayers were given for the victims of ISIS, nor for our soldiers who are home but changed forever. Instead, the prayers were all for Mrs. So-and-So who is having surgery or for Mr. Such-and-Such who has a bad back. No prayers for the torture victims in Nigeria; no prayers for the soldiers dying horrifically overseas; no prayers for those who suffer from addiction; no prayers for pregnant teens; no prayers for those gunned down by tough-guy cops. As I writhed in the rather uncomfortable pew, trying not to stand up and express myself in a multilingual set of obscenities, the straw finally fell on my fragile back.
The pastor -- a well-dressed and very un-pious man -- began encouraging the "brothers" and "sisters" to keep the "franchise" alive by donating heartily. I may be an atheist, but I know that a church is not a franchise, but a community of those who have been called out by God (ekklêsia). The Greek terms means "the calling out that gathers us together" -- and God's the one who does the calling (for those who believe). A church is a home for all Christians, a place where we leave the seven-day week and enter the eighth day where the blessed Christ reigns.
The pastor announced that a vote was about to be taken, to decide whether two new Adventist believers should be allowed to join the congregation. At this point I lost my temper -- a VOTE!!! Is this a church or a political caucus? -- took my girlfriend by the hand, and angrily exited that den of stupidity and avarice.
My open question here, then, is why has a place originally intended for the comfort and spiritual health of the human person become a fucking franchise, like a McDonald's. Again, I'm an atheist, but I respect genuine love for God and fellow humans. This disgusting church made to want to give up my breakfast. So, you Adventists out there, explain yourselves.
