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The "Lord's Day" is one of the traditional Christian names for Sunday, the first day of the Judaeo-Christian seven-day week, observed by most Christians as the memorial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is said in the four canonical gospels of the New Testament to have taken place early on the first day of the week. Very early in the history of Christianity, the tradition of Christ's Sunday morning resurrection gave rise to the Christian custom, later to become an obligation, of gathering every Sunday morning to worship the Christian Lord, Jesus — hence the name "Lord's Day". For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ...
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The name Lord's Day
Probable early references "Lord's Day" is the English translation of the ancient Greek kyriake hemera, a term that first appears in Christian literature in the latter half of the first century. Within a few decades, however, the term kyriake hemera became ubiquitous in Christianity, so that hemera was ellided. Thus, when a Christian writer referred to the kyriake, his readers understood that Sunday was meant. However, we must be quick to point out that the vast majority of religious gatherings in the new testament occurred on the Seventh-day Sabbath, not on Sunday. This custom of Christians meeting on Sunday is a tradition the Catholic Church takes credit for instituting. Catholics are quick to point out that Sunday sacredness is not explicitly spelled out as a new command of God in the Bible itself (See the Convert's Catholic Catechism, pg 50).
The first appearance of the term kyriake hemera is in the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation, which was written in the latter decades of the first century. In Rev. 1:10, the author writes, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day." Most Christian commentators interpret Rev. 1:10 as a reference to Sunday, but some argue that because Revelation contains numerous eschatological visions, kyriake hemera in this passage should be taken as a reference to the end of the world or Judgment Day, which Old Testament prophets often called the Day of the Lord. However, in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, as well as in the original Greek texts of the New Testament, the eschatological judgment day is called hemera tou kyriou, never kyriake hemera. It is possible that when Christians began to call Sunday "the Lord's Day," they opted for kyriake hemera because hemera tou kyriou already had acquired its own connotation or meaning due to the Septuagint rendering. This article is about the Christian scriptures. ...
Visions of John of Patmos, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ...
Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box: Note: Judaism...
The end times are, in one version of Judeo-Christian eschatology and in Islam, a time of tribulation that will precede the Second Coming of the Messiah. ...
The Septuagint: A column of uncial text from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brentons Greek edition and English translation. ...
Some seventh-day Sabbatarian writers have argued that because Jesus identified himself as "Lord even of the Sabbath day" (cf. Matt. 12:8), kyriake hemera in Rev. 1:10 should be interpreted as a reference to the Saturday Sabbath. However, in almost every other extra-biblical instance where kyriake hemera or kyriake is used, the unambiguous meaning is Sunday. It is true that modern seventh-day Sabbatarians customarily do not use "the Lord's Day" as an alternate name for Saturday. We must emphasize that the names "Sunday" and "Saturday" are not referred to in the Bible. Also, it is important to note that Jesus, or the "Lord", never mentions Sunday or the first day of the week as anything other than a normal day. So, we see where confusion can arise from someone that is soley using the Bible to find an answer for which day really is the "Lord's Day". The Sabbath is an important part of the belief and practice of Seventh-day Adventists, and is perhaps the defining characteristic of the denomination. ...
Perhaps the second appearance of kyriake as a reference to Sunday is in the The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles or Didache, a document that may have been written in the latter decades of the first century, or perhaps in one of the early decades of the second. Didache 14 says, "But on the Lord's Day (kyriake de kyriou, literally, "the Lord's [day] of the Lord"), after that ye have assembled together, break bread and give thanks, having in addition confessed your sins, that your sacrifice may be pure." This is apparently an early reference to the weekly Sunday Eucharist (cf. Acts 2:42, "breaking bread"; and Acts 20:7, breaking bread on the first day of the week). But the double possessive form kyriake de kyriou is unique and not found elsewhere, and it is not known why the author of the Didache used that unique construction. However, Didache 14 was at least understood by later Christians as a reference to Sunday worship, as seen in the parallel passages of the Didascalia and Apostolic Constitutions. The Didache (, Koine Greek for Teaching[1]) is the common name of a brief early Christian treatise ( 70–160), containing instructions for Christian communities. ...
Around 110 A.D., St. Ignatius of Antioch used the word kyriake in a passage of his letter to the Magnesians that has often been cited as early evidence of Christianity's change from observance of the Saturday Sabbath to observance of Sunday. However, due to textual variants, the meaning of that passage is in dispute. Based on the only extant Greek manuscript of the letter to the Magnesians, the Codex Mediceo-Laurentianus, the passage in question could be translated, "If, then, those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living according to the Lord’s life . . ." (kata kyriaken zoen zontes). But a medieval Latin translation of Magnesians indicates a textual reading of kata kyriaken zontes, which yields the translation, "no longer observing the Sabbath, but living according to the Lord's Day." Due to the uncertainty over the text, it is unclear whether or not Ignatius referred to the Lord's Day in this passage. However, the expanded Pseudo-Ignatian version of Magnesians from the middle of the third century rewrites this passage so that there can be no doubt that Pseudo-Ignatius understood it as a reference to Sunday. Pseudo-Ignatius writes, "Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, . . . But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, . . . And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]." Saint Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus)(c. ...
Judaizers is a pejorative term used by Pauline Christianity, particularly after the third century, to describe Jewish Christian groups like the Ebionites and Nazarenes who believed that followers of Jesus needed to keep the Law of Moses. ...
Undisputed early references The first undisputed reference to the Lord's Day is in the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, probably written about the middle of the second century or perhaps the first half of that century. The Gospel of Peter 35 and 50 use kyriake as the name for the first day of the week, the day of Jesus' resurrection. That the author referred to the Lord's Day in an apocryphal gospel purportedly written by St. Peter indicates that the term kyriake was very widespread and had been in use for some time. In Judeo-Christian theologies, apocrypha refers to religious Sacred text that have questionable authenticity or are otherwise disputed. ...
The Gospel of Peter was a prominent passion narrative in the early history of Christianity, but over time passed out of common usage. ...
Around 170 A.D., Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, wrote to the Roman Church, "Today we have kept the Lord's holy day (kyriake hagia hemera), on which we have read your letter." In the latter half of the second century, the apocryphal Acts of Peter identify dies Dominica (Latin for "the Lord's Day") as "the next day after the Sabbath," i.e., Sunday. From the same period of time, the Acts of Paul present St. Paul praying "on the Sabbath as the Lord's Day (kyriake) drew near." Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth lived about the year 170. ...
One of the earliest of the apocryphal acts of the apostles, the Acts of Peter is one of the books in the New Testament Apocrypha. ...
The Acts of Paul and Thecla (Acta Pauli et Theclae) is an apocryphal story of St Pauls influence on the young virgin, Thecla. ...
Thus, starting around the mid-second century, Christian usage of the term "Lord's Day" is amply documented, with three probable but disputed references from the latter first century or early half of the second century.
Bibliography From Sabbath to Lord's Day: A Biblical, Historical and Theological Investigation, D.A. Carson, editor (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1982).
The Study of Liturgy, Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright, Edward Yarnold, SJ, and Paul Bradshaw, editors (New York, N.Y.:Oxford University Press, 1992), pp.456-458.
The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, Geiermann, Peter. TAN Books and Publishers, Inc, 1977. pg. 50.
See also For other uses, see Sabbath. ...
Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box: In Christianity...
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