Thank you for a wonderful essay on Thanksgiving. I'm sharing this with other people, especially friends who don't live locally. I know that I'm grateful for everything in spite of what I read and hear elsewhere. Actually every day is Thanksgiving day, waking up to a new fresh start is important to realize,no matter who you are ,your religion,your political affiliation,race or age.
Thanks for the beautiful prayer and to remind us of God's glory and to focus on him and the bounty he will bring us.
This week as I was at a store with a Thank you I said Happy Thanksgiving to each and every person and their smiles were like a ray of sun that touches my heart.
As we enter the Holy Season don't forget that a smile or a kind word goes a long way.
For those of you who do not regularly follow Jeff Childers on Substack Coffee and Covid, I commend to you his brilliant piece today. He brilliantly chronicles the transition from Washington and Lincoln establishing days of thanks given to God for sustaining the nation through two wars, to the modern secular day of football and overeating
Why distort history to push a narrative? Just be truthful—it's easier.
Thanksgiving originated as a harvest celebration shared with the Wampanoag. If you want to discuss religion in this context, consider: would you mock the Native Americans for rain dances? The settlers thanking their deity for rain and harvest was functionally similar—both groups expressing gratitude through their spiritual traditions.
Thanksgiving didn't become a national holiday until Lincoln proclaimed it in 1863—240 years after the 1621 event. The holiday simply didn't exist before then, so claiming God has been "removed since inception" is historically false.
If you want to argue that God has been removed since 1863, let's look at the facts. Lincoln's proclamation was explicitly religious—churches held services, and it was observed as a sacred day. But then capitalism intervened. The date was moved to extend the Christmas shopping season. Was that the government's doing, or economic pressure from donors and retailers? The same forces that added "under God" to the Pledge in 1954—not reverence, but marketing.
In the end, the holiday is exactly as it should be: no one prevents you from celebrating it religiously, and no one prevents me from celebrating it secularly. That's freedom.
1789 By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor”
“therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation”
I believe religion is a man-made concept by intelligent people to manipulate the weak-minded. I think that it is used for nefarious means.
I do not believe that I have to read a book that if it were a movie would be rated X to learn what is morally right and wrong.
I think that the masses who follow these written words have caused more damage to humans than anything else. They fight over their fictitious sky daddies being better than the other person's, and kill each other over it.
I think that we would be 500 to 1000 years ahead of where we are as a race if religion did not exist. Yes, in my opinion, it has done more damage than it has helped.
I think that inherently, there are a lot of wonderful people who do wonderful things, and they do not need religion to tell them what to do. It is a shame that some do not see that and want to mimic those people instead of reading a book about violence, obedience, and disregard for other humans.
Don't care if you believe it is a reddit tier response.
A person asked, I responded.
The difference between you and I . . . I don't care if you believe in a sky daddy. I don't care if you sit in your home and worship anything. I am not trying to impose my beliefs on you. I am not trying to have the government impose my beliefs on you.
So again, I get it. You believe in a sky daddy. Cool. Glad it makes you happy. I do not. I do not believe in this man-made concept.
Heather Cox richardson also details Thanksgiving change
The Pilgrims and the Wampanoags did indeed share a harvest celebration together at Plymouth in fall 1621, but that moment got forgotten almost immediately, overwritten by the long history of the settlers’ attacks on their Indigenous neighbors.
In 1841 a book that reprinted the early diaries and letters from the Plymouth colony recovered the story of that three-day celebration in which ninety Indigenous Americans and the English settlers shared fowl and deer. This story of peace and goodwill among men who by the 1840s were more often enemies than not inspired Sarah Josepha Hale, who edited the popular women’s magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book, to think that a national celebration could ease similar tensions building between the slave-holding South and the free North. She lobbied for legislation to establish a day of national thanksgiving.
And then, on April 12, 1861, southern soldiers fired on Fort Sumter, a federal fort in Charleston Harbor, and the meaning of a holiday for giving thanks changed.
Southern leaders wanted to destroy the United States of America and create their own country, based not in the traditional American idea that “all men are created equal,” but rather in its opposite: that some men were better than others and had the right to enslave their neighbors. In the 1850s, convinced that society worked best if a few wealthy men ran it, southern leaders had bent the laws of the United States to their benefit, using it to protect enslavement above all.
In 1860, northerners elected Abraham Lincoln to the presidency to stop rich southern enslavers from taking over the government and using it to cement their own wealth and power. As soon as he was elected, southern leaders pulled their states out of the Union to set up their own country. After the firing on Fort Sumter, Lincoln and the fledgling Republican Party set out to end the slaveholders’ rebellion.
The early years of the war did not go well for the U.S. By the end of 1862, the armies still held, but people on the home front were losing faith. Leaders recognized the need both to acknowledge the suffering and to keep Americans loyal to the cause. In November and December, seventeen state governors declared state thanksgiving holidays.
New York governor Edwin Morgan’s widely reprinted proclamation about the holiday reflected that the previous year “is numbered among the dark periods of history, and its sorrowful records are graven on many hearthstones.” But this was nonetheless a time for giving thanks, he wrote, because “the precious blood shed in the cause of our country will hallow and strengthen our love and our reverence for it and its institutions…. Our Government and institutions placed in jeopardy have brought us to a more just appreciation of their value.”
The next year, Lincoln got ahead of the state proclamations. On July 15 he declared a national day of Thanksgiving, and the relief in his proclamation was almost palpable. After two years of disasters, the Union army was finally winning. Bloody, yes; battered, yes; but winning. At Gettysburg in early July, Union troops had sent Confederates reeling back southward. Then, on July 4, Vicksburg had finally fallen to U. S. Grant’s army. The military tide was turning.
President Lincoln set Thursday, August 6, 1863, for the national day of Thanksgiving. On that day, ministers across the country listed the signal victories of the U.S. Army and Navy in the past year and reassured their congregations that it was only a matter of time until the United States government put down the southern rebellion. Their predictions acknowledged the dead and reinforced the idea that their sacrifice had not been in vain.
In October 1863, President Lincoln declared a second national day of Thanksgiving. In the past year, he declared, the nation had been blessed.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, he wrote, Americans had maintained their laws and their institutions and had kept foreign countries from meddling with their nation. They had paid for the war as they went, refusing to permit the destruction to wreck the economy. Instead, as they funded the war, they had also advanced farming, industry, mining, and shipping. Immigrants had poured into the country to replace men lost on the battlefield, and the economy was booming. And Lincoln had recently promised that the government would end slavery once and for all. The country, he predicted, “with a large increase of freedom,” would survive, stronger and more prosperous than ever. The president invited Americans “in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands” to observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving.
In 1863, November’s last Thursday fell on the 26th. On November 19, Lincoln delivered an address at the dedication of a national cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He reached back to the Declaration of Independence for the principles on which he called for Americans to rebuild the severed nation:
”Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Lincoln urged the crowd to take up the torch those who fought at Gettysburg had laid down. He called for them to “highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The following year, Lincoln proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, this time congratulating Americans that God had favored them not only with immigration but also with the emancipation of formerly enslaved people. “Moreover,” Lincoln wrote, “He has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of freedom and humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions.”
In 1861, Americans went to war to keep a cabal from taking control of the government and turning it into an oligarchy. The fight against that rebellion seemed at first to be too much for the nation to survive. But Americans rallied and threw their hearts into the cause on the battlefields even as they continued to work on the home front for a government that defended democracy and equality before the law.
1789 By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor”
“therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation”
Yesterday's Thanksgiving Eve article was about spreading hate and distrust of Muslims, and today on Thanksgiving Day, the message was to spread hate toward Catholics. In case you missed it, please read Brian's comments in the comment thread. This shameful behavior, honestly. If you people hate Muslims and now apparently Catholics, who exactly do you like?
Also, Charlie Kirk's last book: "Stop in the Name of God, Why Honoring the Sabbath will change your Life" is now available----We are NOT required to honor the Sabbath but by Honoring it we allow ourselves to focus on the Lord. My husband and I practiced this for a time and it was amazing--unplug-REST IN THE LORD!!!!
Blessings and May Our Nation turn back to the Lord!
I think what people have forgotten is that you don’t thank the Lord just once a year with a big fancy dinner. Being grateful and thankful to the Lord, should be each and every day with a simple little prayer. Thank you for today’s Blessings, Lord.
The early Church was one Church, the one Christ formed and said the gates of hell would not prevail against. Please read the early Church fathers and see where His one true apostolic Church remains, it has two wings, Roman Catholic in the West and Eastern Orthodox in the East.
Please provide your source for the claim the "the papal system outlawed the Sabbath." The Roman Catholic Apostolic Church has been guided by the Holy Spirit to assemble the Bible and protect the instructions of practice of faith given by Jesus Christ, including at the last supper where he taught His apostles how to celebrate the sacrifice of the Eucharist, what He said is His body that we should take and eat. Shocking, but that is what God said. We Catholics continue to be faithful to His holy instructions. Your ancestors were also Catholic. It is time for Americans to overcome the errors of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and King Henry VIII and work to reunite Chris's Church so that we can be a more powerful force for His way in this world.
I pray that all Christians reunite into His one true Church, but in the meanwhile, I do appreciate all who seek to truly serve Him and submit to His direction in his or her life. We can find a lot of common ground and work together, but not if there is slander and deception. You would not have a Bible if not for the faithful service of millions of Catholics, many of whom are saints and martyrs. Take a moment to learn about the first Christian martyrs of California: https://www.missionsandiegohistory.org/father-luis-jayme
Be humbled by their sacrifice and the sacrifice and faithful service of all those who truly submitted to Christ to keep His Good News viral to this very day. Thank God for all we have been given, especially His only begotten son because He so loved the world. And yes, thank Mary, holy mother of God for her submission to God's will.
You don't have to become Catholic, but if you learn more about Catholicism, you can serve God more faithfully. Bearing false witness is a grave sin after all. I highly recommend the conversion story of Scott Hahn from protestant Pastor to Roman Catholic theologian. He is a very thoughtful and wise man. You don't have to agree with him to learn from him about how we can better respect the good and the true in our different ways of seeking to love and serve Christ.
May Christ's love so fill our hearts with love and gratitude that we fearlessly work to understand others and work to better notice and appreciate the good others do. May we humble ourselves to seek to become true instruments of His peace. Have a great Thanksgiving and God bless.
I listened to the sermon you shared, and I respect the heart behind it,
but nothing in it actually addresses the real issue: Catholic Church changed Gods Word.
Scripture never changes the Sabbath, the day God told us to “remember” the day Jesus said he is Lord. The 7th Day of rest.
And no sermon, tradition, or council has authority to overrule what God Himself commanded.
Yes, the OT reveals the NT. Jesus constantly quotes it.
Even on the cross He referenced Psalm 22, “father please forgive them” written hundreds of years before crucifixion existed. It states, “They pierced my hands and my feet”
The Eucharist is also a spiritual truth, not a command to physically consume Christ’s flesh.
Jesus defines His own metaphor in John 6:35:
• “Come to Me” = not hunger
• “Believe in Me” = not thirst
Just like in John 4, He wasn’t telling the Samaritan woman to drink literal water from His body. These are spiritual realities, not food rituals.
Most importantly, the Bible is complete and God repeatedly forbids adding to or taking away from what He commanded.
Canon laws and catechisms are man-made. They do not have the authority to rewrite the 4th Commandment.
Jesus rebuked that exact kind of religious authority, man-made rules replacing God’s Word, and He tore the veil to show that we are the temple, not an institution.
And this is the part that can’t be avoided:
Canon 29 openly commands Christians to work on the Sabbath, forbids resting on the day God said to remember, and enforces Sunday instead.
That is not Jesus.
That is not Scripture.
That is not the apostles.
That is man.
I’m choosing to follow what God commanded, not what later institutions modified.
With love and respect we need to read the Bible ourselves, not just the soundbites fed to us in churches.
OK, we in the Roman Catholic Church stand on 2000 years of tradition, Christ, the apostles who walked with Him, the early Church fathers, and the saints in their sourcing and interpreting the scripture and living faith as Christ instructed us to. What is your authority? You take a Bible given from the work and preservation of the Church and interpret it yourself? This is the heart of our biggest problem in America in Protestantism. No one can submit to any authority, so they are always subject to the ability of their reason to rationalize whatever they want and color how they interpret scripture. OR if they do submit to a Church, when it contradicts their understanding they leave it and go "shopping" for another one! I would love to know how you think Matthew 18:15-17 is supposed to be understood if you think you have access to the word of God despite claiming the Church who provided that scripture to you cannot be trusted! You are standing on nothing. This is how people are losing their faith or allowing it to be degraded into divorce, acceptance of sodomy, Zionism...
I actually agree with you on one thing: the biggest problem today is when people elevate their own reasoning above God’s authority.
That’s exactly why we cannot elevate man-made authority above what God already spoke.
Canon 29 is a perfect example — it forbids resting on the Sabbath, the day God told us to remember, the day Jesus declared he was Lord of, and replaces it with Sunday the day declared as the day of the sun god.
That isn’t what Jesus, the apostles, or Scripture ever commanded. That’s human tradition overriding God’s Word.
The same applies when the Pope calls himself the Vicar of Christ, claims power to forgive sins, or when believers are told to pray to departed saints. Scripture clearly says Jesus is our only mediator, and that salvation and access to the Father come through Him alone.
My authority is the same one Jesus and the apostles used: the Word of God.
The Word has existed since Creation, long before Moses.
Scripture says it is God-breathed, complete, and not to be added to or taken away from.
I’m not rejecting authority, I’m submitting to God’s authority.
If a church teaching contradicts what God wrote with His own finger in the commandments, I choose Scripture. And any church that teaches contrary to the Word as written in the Bible should be avoided.
As for Matthew 18, Jesus is talking about dealing with sin within a community of believers, not giving future institutions permission to rewrite His commandments.
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
In the first century, “the church” simply meant the gathered followers of Christ, not a centralized hierarchy.
The first followers of Jesus weren’t called Catholics — the Bible tells us exactly what they were called.
In Acts, believers are described as:
• The Way — Acts 9:2; Acts 24:14
• Nazarenes — Acts 24:5
• Disciples — Acts 11:26
• Believers — Acts 5:14
• Saints — Romans 1:7
• Brethren — Acts 15:23
These are the only names the New Testament uses for the original Church.
The word “Catholic” appears nowhere in Scripture.
Its first appearance in Christian writing is around A.D. 110 in Ignatius’ letter to the Smyrnaeans, where he uses “catholic” simply to mean universal, not the later Roman system.
Yes, the Nicene Creed in 381 A.D. says “one holy catholic and apostolic Church,” but “catholic” there means universal, not a denomination, and was written centuries after Acts.
The Church Jesus founded is described in the Bible, and the Bible calls His followers The Way, Disciples, Believers, and Saints, not Catholics.
My “church” was established at Creation, reinforced by Jesus 2,000 years ago when he came to show us exactly how we are to live, honor God and each other.
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
True. The Church existed for centuries before the Bible was compiled. The Church that Christ founded, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, determined the canon for the Bible. Christ commanded us to not only remember his teachings, but also do as he instructed us to do, such as celebration of the Eucharist. At the Last Supper he said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
You’re right that the early church existed before the Bible was compiled but God’s Word existed before the church, before Moses, and before creation itself.
John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God.”
So the Church didn’t create God’s Word; it simply recognized what God had already spoken.
And Scripture is clear:
Deuteronomy 4:2 — “Do not add to the word… nor take from it.”
Proverbs 30:6 — “Do not add to His words.”
Revelation 22:18–19 — God warns against adding or removing.
Scripture is also clear. God never assigned a human to act in his place.
As for the Eucharist, Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of Me,”
not that the ritual itself saves, and certainly not that the Church gains authority over Scripture.
Again Jesus was speaking of belief in him. Not the actual eating of bread. Just as he didn’t literally mean drink his sweat when he was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well.
The issue isn’t whether the early church existed
it’s whether any church can contradict the Word that came before it.
The Catholic Church agrees with you and painstakingly works to make sure whatever guidance or teaching it issues as part of the Magisterium does not contradict the word of God. Again, I am just a lay person with no formal education in theology, but what I can tell you is that you should open your heart to the accumulated wisdom of the Catholic Church, a great storehouse of intellectual and spiritual riches.
One book I recommend is by Dr. E Michael Jones called "Logos Rising." Because actually, the Gospel of John said "in the beginning there was the logos." The Greek word for logos gets translated into English as "word" but the word "logos" means much more than just "word". What I believe is that when we approach these questions with humility and a sincere effort to submit to God's will and Christ's teaching, we see that we must always remain humble about the limits of our human understanding and the danger of thinking we can direct ourselves without the guidance of His Church and all the Saints who have suffered for it. You don't have to agree, and I love and appreciate your love of Christ regardless, but this is how it looks to me.
If you are willing to consider Catholic sources, I highly recommend Peter Kreeft who was mentioned in the Homily today at mass. Scott Hahn I mentioned. Joseph Pearce went from jailed anarchist to Catholic due to the inspiration of the works of G K Chesterton. St. Augustine, genius about sin and human nature, stands tall throughout the ages. St. Thomas Aquinas helped us understand the relationship between faith and reason, protecting from the heresy of thinking our reason stands at the top, but also against the heresy that does not respect the great good of reason. Catholic wisdom is often about finding the proper balance between extremes, yet in a manner that is not moderate or milquetoast, if that makes any sense. I feel like that is what Chesterton was saying in the 3rd or 4th chapter of his book "Orthodoxy" that I am reading again. C. S. Lewis is not Catholic, but his writings are clearly bring people closer to Christ. I also appreciate the apologetics of Dr. John Lennox, another Protestant, but a great speaker who raises many important points for the case for Christ.
Anyhow, again, I am no theologian or spiritual advisor, but I am just so filled with gratitude for all of these amazing thinkers who have left us these treasures to help us deepen our love and understanding of what God calls us to do. My heart is so filled with love and gratitude for creation and Christ's sacrifice, that I feel a sacred and joyful duty to work to learn as much as I can from those who devoted their lives to Christ, starting with the most celebrated since they seemed to have been useful to many others before us. May God bless and protect you always, Brian.
Are you a Messianic Jew or a Seventh Day Adventist? Why the obsession with why Christians worship differently than the old testament? We also no longer have animal sacrifice in the temple and the temple was destroyed as Christ predicted would occur. Attempts to rebuild it under Julian the Apostate were thwarted by what appeared to be divine intervention. Why is Jesus the new sacrifice, the lamb? You might want to check into why Catholics claim Sunday is the Sabbath:
I am not sure myself, but I am not convinced this is an important question to solve. I come across many Protestants who exhibit a hermaneutic of scepticism which I think is a dangerous hubris that can take people away from God. Chesterton talks a bit about scepticism in this book Orthodoxy:
But if this is a sincere question and not an effort to attempt to detract from the Church founded by Christ, then keep seeking and you shall find. God will not mislead you if you are willing to submit to Him and ask him to guide your search for Him.
Are you asking by what authority man changed the Commandments. None, there is no authority allowed per the Bible.
But the Catholic Church claimed authority anyway as evidenced by Canon 29.
Cite for me where the Bible authorizes the change of the 4 th Commandment. The one God told us to “remember”. The one that Jesus declared he is Lord of.
There is nowhere in the Bible that Hid says never mind you do as you want.
The reality the church changed it to appeal to Roman gentiles and to distance themselves from the Jews.
Everyone forgets Gods Holy Sabbath was established at Creation, long before Abraham, Noah and long before there were any Jews.
Jesus said the Sabbath is a gift to man, not to the “Jews”
The new sacrifice replaces the old. The veil on the temple was rent when Jesus died. . Jesus said the temple would be destroyed. It was in 70AD. It is almost like you missed the Good News...
Have you heard of typology? Scott Hahn explains it clearly in the testimony I shared with you. You don't seem to have listened to it. If you want to understand how Catholics experience our faith, it is very instructive.
I understand that certain people choose to not read the Bible for themselves and they choose to not read Catholic Canon or Catechisms.
So I will cite the references first you to look up and verify what I write here. Theo, I know you not like to read or quote the Bible, Canon or anything relevant. Please have an open mind and read for yourself.
Firstly, the Bible is the absolute Truth, the complete Word of God. The Bible states it is not to be altered.
Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you,
nor take from it…”
Whether you like it not the Catholic Church changed Gods Word in supplemental Catholic papers.
364 A.D. Council of Laodicean the church issued Canon 29
“Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day; rather, honour the Lord’s Day, and, if possible, rest then as Christians.
But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”
However, God did not authorize this change to his 4 th Commandment. The day Jesus said he was Lord of God did not change or abolish.
The Church chose to move to the day that Rome already had declared the day of the sun god.
The church moved Gods Holy Sabbath to another gods day.
321 A.D., Constantine issued a civil edict declaring Sunday — “the venerable day of the Sun” (Latin venerabili die solis) — as a day of rest for magistrates and city-folk, closing courts and workshops.
274 A.D. Emperor Aurelian established Sol Invictus as the supreme deity of Rome.
The first day of the week was already called dies Solis — the day of the Sun.
The Catholic Church, which despised the Jews attempted to change God’s appointed feasts and times to separate themselves from the Jews and to pander to gentiles.
Read the Catholic Church records for yourself.
305 A.D.– Council of Elvira Canon 16 “Christians must not marry Jews…”
325 A.D. - Emperor Constantine’s letter to the churches after Nicaea, preserved by Eusebius, states: “… let us have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd…”
1215 A.D. Fourth Lateran Council Canon 68 “Jews and Saracens must be distinguished from Christians by the character of their dress…
so that they may not come into contact with Christians.”
1555 A.D. Papal Bull Cum nimis absurdum Pope Paul IV “It is absurd and utterly unacceptable that the Jews… should live among Christians.”
You stated you need to consult the magisterium about canon 29 outlawing the sabbath by name.
Your responses to date have been your opinion not the church’s. Which is a violation of your religion according to the CCC you quoted me.
So did the church provide a response ehy they outlawed Gods first command, the one he told us to remember, the only one He sanctified, the one Jesus a Jew declared He is lord of? The one that existed way before there were Jews.
Is it as dimple as antisemitism?
But Gods Word is His Word for all of His followers regardless of culture & race.
Or does your religion believe in a different god, not YHWH?
I’m writing to people who genuinely want a relationship with YHWH and are willing to examine His Word for themselves.
You appear to prefer magisterial authority over Scripture, your allegiance is to man and man’s traditions. Not YHWH.
That’s your choice.
You spew hate with your unsupported opinions. Yiu offer no references and you so not encourage people to read the Word and connect with YHWH.
I’ve cited Scripture and church documents throughout. You’ve cited neither only assertions, followed by attacks.
If you want to engage seriously, support your claims with biblical text or historical sources.
If not, there’s nothing left to debate.
You have proven yourself to be misguided and a spreader of hate and intolerance. Appropriate given the words of the church over the millennia attacking the Jews.
Theo, I’m simply asking for references because you are making historical and biblical claims with no citations — not even Scripture.
You said the Didache supports Sunday worship.
You said “Lord’s Day” means Sunday.
You said early Christians kept both days.
But you provided zero sources — not even a verse.
Meanwhile, everything I’ve stated is backed by Scripture:
• The Sabbath is consistently called the 7th day in both OT and NT.
• Luke 23:56–24:1
• Acts 13:42, 44
• Acts 16:13
• Hebrews 4:9
• Jesus explicitly says He is Lord of the Sabbath, not Sunday.
• The Bible never defines “Lord’s Day” as the first day of the week.
• The Didache is not Scripture and does not mention “Sunday,” and you have not provided any citation showing otherwise.
You brought up the Ethiopian Church — but even your own example proves my point:
they kept Sabbath because Scripture says Sabbath.
Their additional practice of Sunday came from later tradition, not a biblical change of God’s command.
I’m not rejecting history — I’m asking for sources.
I’m also not refusing extra-biblical writings — I’m simply saying they cannot override Scripture.
If you believe the Bible is the Word of God, then it must be the ultimate authority.
If you believe tradition can contradict Scripture, then be honest and say so.
I’m following what God actually said.
If you want to discuss this respectfully, just provide one clear reference for your claims — especially the meaning of “Lord’s Day” and your Didache interpretation.
You say you’re anti-Republican, but you didn’t list Democrats in your “anti-” list.
So let’s get to the point.
This isn’t about party labels.
This is about one question:
Do you support abortion?
Because Scripture is unambiguous:
• God forms the child in the womb (Psalm 139:13)
• God knows the child before birth (Jeremiah 1:5)
• The unborn child is called a “baby” (Luke 1:41)
• Violence against the unborn was punishable as murder (Exodus 21:22–23)
You cannot claim to follow God while defending what God calls murder.
Even secular scientists admit they don’t know exactly when life begins — meaning abortion risks killing a living human being simply out of uncertainty.
That’s not morality.
That’s moral blindness.
So I’ll ask again:
Are you a true believer in God?
Because if you are, then you cannot support any person, policy, or party that promotes the destruction of a child God Himself formed.
This isn’t politics.
It’s basic obedience to the God you claim to follow.
You keep appealing to history and tradition, but Jesus appealed to Scripture as the final authority:
Mark 7:7–8
“You reject the commandment of God so that you may keep your tradition.”
That’s the issue here — not Adventism, not denominations, not institutions.
God’s Word vs. human tradition.
Scripture existed before the Catholic Church (John 1:1) and corrects every religious system — including ancient ones.
Truth isn’t determined by age or size; it’s determined by God’s Word:
Isaiah 40:8
“The word of our God stands forever.”
As for the Sabbath:
the Pilgrims kept Sunday because of tradition, not Scripture. Even the Catholic Church admits it changed the day.
I’m not rejecting history and I’m refusing to put tradition above Scripture.
Jesus commands us to.
1 Thessalonians 5:21
“Test everything.”
And if something contradicts God’s Word, I choose God.
Such as Canon 29 outlawing Gods command. The one he told us to remember, the one Jesus declared he was Lord of. The one that Gentiles and Jews honored after Jesus departed.
I know you despise the Bible and refuse to read it or quote it. Which begs the question what faith are you?
Revelation 22:14
“Blessed are those who keep His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”
And Happy Thanksgiving to all. With a question: how many people give thanks daily, whether to God, to Nature, to Life, or out of just plain gratitude. Here's a poem by a woman named Loretta Carmickle which appeared in April, 2010 in the weekly newspaper Tucson Weekly.
The Supreme Good
The young ones gathered at the feet of the old woman.
"Tell us, Mother, what is the chief end in life--
The summum bonum?"
Her mind rolls back through eighty-some years--
A life filled with
Sorrows and joys
Drudgeries and exhilarations
Tragedies and triumphs.
The young ones wait patiently for her answer.
Its simplicity when it comes, astounds them.
No admonition to do or be good.
No admonition to love God and keep his commandments.
No admonition to "know thyself."
No admonition to seek truth and grow in wisdom.
She answers simply:
"The chief end in life is gratitude,
And the only prayer you need ever utter is 'thank you.'"
Thanks for the reminder of what today is all about.
We are blessed to live in a beautiful place, in a country still free enough to be able to publicly thank God for His love and providence.
Thank you for a wonderful essay on Thanksgiving. I'm sharing this with other people, especially friends who don't live locally. I know that I'm grateful for everything in spite of what I read and hear elsewhere. Actually every day is Thanksgiving day, waking up to a new fresh start is important to realize,no matter who you are ,your religion,your political affiliation,race or age.
Thanks for the beautiful prayer and to remind us of God's glory and to focus on him and the bounty he will bring us.
This week as I was at a store with a Thank you I said Happy Thanksgiving to each and every person and their smiles were like a ray of sun that touches my heart.
As we enter the Holy Season don't forget that a smile or a kind word goes a long way.
Thank You
For those of you who do not regularly follow Jeff Childers on Substack Coffee and Covid, I commend to you his brilliant piece today. He brilliantly chronicles the transition from Washington and Lincoln establishing days of thanks given to God for sustaining the nation through two wars, to the modern secular day of football and overeating
https://open.substack.com/pub/thesantabarbaracurrent/p/thanksgiving-a-day-we-give-thanks?r=8sx0b&utm_medium=ios
Why distort history to push a narrative? Just be truthful—it's easier.
Thanksgiving originated as a harvest celebration shared with the Wampanoag. If you want to discuss religion in this context, consider: would you mock the Native Americans for rain dances? The settlers thanking their deity for rain and harvest was functionally similar—both groups expressing gratitude through their spiritual traditions.
Thanksgiving didn't become a national holiday until Lincoln proclaimed it in 1863—240 years after the 1621 event. The holiday simply didn't exist before then, so claiming God has been "removed since inception" is historically false.
If you want to argue that God has been removed since 1863, let's look at the facts. Lincoln's proclamation was explicitly religious—churches held services, and it was observed as a sacred day. But then capitalism intervened. The date was moved to extend the Christmas shopping season. Was that the government's doing, or economic pressure from donors and retailers? The same forces that added "under God" to the Pledge in 1954—not reverence, but marketing.
In the end, the holiday is exactly as it should be: no one prevents you from celebrating it religiously, and no one prevents me from celebrating it secularly. That's freedom.
President George Washington
1789 By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor”
“therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation”
https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collections/primary-source-collections/article/thanksgiving-proclamation-of-1789?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
What faith are you?
Two rocks from nowhere or God?
What are your beliefs?
I believe religion is a man-made concept by intelligent people to manipulate the weak-minded. I think that it is used for nefarious means.
I do not believe that I have to read a book that if it were a movie would be rated X to learn what is morally right and wrong.
I think that the masses who follow these written words have caused more damage to humans than anything else. They fight over their fictitious sky daddies being better than the other person's, and kill each other over it.
I think that we would be 500 to 1000 years ahead of where we are as a race if religion did not exist. Yes, in my opinion, it has done more damage than it has helped.
I think that inherently, there are a lot of wonderful people who do wonderful things, and they do not need religion to tell them what to do. It is a shame that some do not see that and want to mimic those people instead of reading a book about violence, obedience, and disregard for other humans.
Don't care if you believe it is a reddit tier response.
A person asked, I responded.
The difference between you and I . . . I don't care if you believe in a sky daddy. I don't care if you sit in your home and worship anything. I am not trying to impose my beliefs on you. I am not trying to have the government impose my beliefs on you.
So again, I get it. You believe in a sky daddy. Cool. Glad it makes you happy. I do not. I do not believe in this man-made concept.
True,
Thanksgiving is not in the Bible. Neither is Xmas or Easter.
Pascha, Passover on the 14th day of the first month, Nisan is.
What is your point?
Thanks for agreeing with me.
Thank you for writing.
And HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and your family.
Yes, many thanks for your message helping us reflect on the importance of gratitude.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL.
Heather Cox richardson also details Thanksgiving change
The Pilgrims and the Wampanoags did indeed share a harvest celebration together at Plymouth in fall 1621, but that moment got forgotten almost immediately, overwritten by the long history of the settlers’ attacks on their Indigenous neighbors.
In 1841 a book that reprinted the early diaries and letters from the Plymouth colony recovered the story of that three-day celebration in which ninety Indigenous Americans and the English settlers shared fowl and deer. This story of peace and goodwill among men who by the 1840s were more often enemies than not inspired Sarah Josepha Hale, who edited the popular women’s magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book, to think that a national celebration could ease similar tensions building between the slave-holding South and the free North. She lobbied for legislation to establish a day of national thanksgiving.
And then, on April 12, 1861, southern soldiers fired on Fort Sumter, a federal fort in Charleston Harbor, and the meaning of a holiday for giving thanks changed.
Southern leaders wanted to destroy the United States of America and create their own country, based not in the traditional American idea that “all men are created equal,” but rather in its opposite: that some men were better than others and had the right to enslave their neighbors. In the 1850s, convinced that society worked best if a few wealthy men ran it, southern leaders had bent the laws of the United States to their benefit, using it to protect enslavement above all.
In 1860, northerners elected Abraham Lincoln to the presidency to stop rich southern enslavers from taking over the government and using it to cement their own wealth and power. As soon as he was elected, southern leaders pulled their states out of the Union to set up their own country. After the firing on Fort Sumter, Lincoln and the fledgling Republican Party set out to end the slaveholders’ rebellion.
The early years of the war did not go well for the U.S. By the end of 1862, the armies still held, but people on the home front were losing faith. Leaders recognized the need both to acknowledge the suffering and to keep Americans loyal to the cause. In November and December, seventeen state governors declared state thanksgiving holidays.
New York governor Edwin Morgan’s widely reprinted proclamation about the holiday reflected that the previous year “is numbered among the dark periods of history, and its sorrowful records are graven on many hearthstones.” But this was nonetheless a time for giving thanks, he wrote, because “the precious blood shed in the cause of our country will hallow and strengthen our love and our reverence for it and its institutions…. Our Government and institutions placed in jeopardy have brought us to a more just appreciation of their value.”
The next year, Lincoln got ahead of the state proclamations. On July 15 he declared a national day of Thanksgiving, and the relief in his proclamation was almost palpable. After two years of disasters, the Union army was finally winning. Bloody, yes; battered, yes; but winning. At Gettysburg in early July, Union troops had sent Confederates reeling back southward. Then, on July 4, Vicksburg had finally fallen to U. S. Grant’s army. The military tide was turning.
President Lincoln set Thursday, August 6, 1863, for the national day of Thanksgiving. On that day, ministers across the country listed the signal victories of the U.S. Army and Navy in the past year and reassured their congregations that it was only a matter of time until the United States government put down the southern rebellion. Their predictions acknowledged the dead and reinforced the idea that their sacrifice had not been in vain.
In October 1863, President Lincoln declared a second national day of Thanksgiving. In the past year, he declared, the nation had been blessed.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, he wrote, Americans had maintained their laws and their institutions and had kept foreign countries from meddling with their nation. They had paid for the war as they went, refusing to permit the destruction to wreck the economy. Instead, as they funded the war, they had also advanced farming, industry, mining, and shipping. Immigrants had poured into the country to replace men lost on the battlefield, and the economy was booming. And Lincoln had recently promised that the government would end slavery once and for all. The country, he predicted, “with a large increase of freedom,” would survive, stronger and more prosperous than ever. The president invited Americans “in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands” to observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving.
In 1863, November’s last Thursday fell on the 26th. On November 19, Lincoln delivered an address at the dedication of a national cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He reached back to the Declaration of Independence for the principles on which he called for Americans to rebuild the severed nation:
”Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Lincoln urged the crowd to take up the torch those who fought at Gettysburg had laid down. He called for them to “highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The following year, Lincoln proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, this time congratulating Americans that God had favored them not only with immigration but also with the emancipation of formerly enslaved people. “Moreover,” Lincoln wrote, “He has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of freedom and humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions.”
In 1861, Americans went to war to keep a cabal from taking control of the government and turning it into an oligarchy. The fight against that rebellion seemed at first to be too much for the nation to survive. But Americans rallied and threw their hearts into the cause on the battlefields even as they continued to work on the home front for a government that defended democracy and equality before the law.
And in 1865, at least, they won.
Happy Thanksgiving.
President George Washington
1789 By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor”
“therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation”
https://www.mountvernon.org/education/primary-source-collections/primary-source-collections/article/thanksgiving-proclamation-of-1789?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Yesterday's Thanksgiving Eve article was about spreading hate and distrust of Muslims, and today on Thanksgiving Day, the message was to spread hate toward Catholics. In case you missed it, please read Brian's comments in the comment thread. This shameful behavior, honestly. If you people hate Muslims and now apparently Catholics, who exactly do you like?
Amen Brian! Thank you! I have learned so much history from Wallbuilders.com. Here is the Thanksgiving link: https://wallbuilders.com/resource/thanksgiving-in-america-tract/
Also, Charlie Kirk's last book: "Stop in the Name of God, Why Honoring the Sabbath will change your Life" is now available----We are NOT required to honor the Sabbath but by Honoring it we allow ourselves to focus on the Lord. My husband and I practiced this for a time and it was amazing--unplug-REST IN THE LORD!!!!
Blessings and May Our Nation turn back to the Lord!
I think what people have forgotten is that you don’t thank the Lord just once a year with a big fancy dinner. Being grateful and thankful to the Lord, should be each and every day with a simple little prayer. Thank you for today’s Blessings, Lord.
The early Church was one Church, the one Christ formed and said the gates of hell would not prevail against. Please read the early Church fathers and see where His one true apostolic Church remains, it has two wings, Roman Catholic in the West and Eastern Orthodox in the East.
Please provide your source for the claim the "the papal system outlawed the Sabbath." The Roman Catholic Apostolic Church has been guided by the Holy Spirit to assemble the Bible and protect the instructions of practice of faith given by Jesus Christ, including at the last supper where he taught His apostles how to celebrate the sacrifice of the Eucharist, what He said is His body that we should take and eat. Shocking, but that is what God said. We Catholics continue to be faithful to His holy instructions. Your ancestors were also Catholic. It is time for Americans to overcome the errors of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and King Henry VIII and work to reunite Chris's Church so that we can be a more powerful force for His way in this world.
I pray that all Christians reunite into His one true Church, but in the meanwhile, I do appreciate all who seek to truly serve Him and submit to His direction in his or her life. We can find a lot of common ground and work together, but not if there is slander and deception. You would not have a Bible if not for the faithful service of millions of Catholics, many of whom are saints and martyrs. Take a moment to learn about the first Christian martyrs of California: https://www.missionsandiegohistory.org/father-luis-jayme
Be humbled by their sacrifice and the sacrifice and faithful service of all those who truly submitted to Christ to keep His Good News viral to this very day. Thank God for all we have been given, especially His only begotten son because He so loved the world. And yes, thank Mary, holy mother of God for her submission to God's will.
You don't have to become Catholic, but if you learn more about Catholicism, you can serve God more faithfully. Bearing false witness is a grave sin after all. I highly recommend the conversion story of Scott Hahn from protestant Pastor to Roman Catholic theologian. He is a very thoughtful and wise man. You don't have to agree with him to learn from him about how we can better respect the good and the true in our different ways of seeking to love and serve Christ.
https://youtu.be/DCD6QF1jCyg
May Christ's love so fill our hearts with love and gratitude that we fearlessly work to understand others and work to better notice and appreciate the good others do. May we humble ourselves to seek to become true instruments of His peace. Have a great Thanksgiving and God bless.
I listened to the sermon you shared, and I respect the heart behind it,
but nothing in it actually addresses the real issue: Catholic Church changed Gods Word.
Scripture never changes the Sabbath, the day God told us to “remember” the day Jesus said he is Lord. The 7th Day of rest.
And no sermon, tradition, or council has authority to overrule what God Himself commanded.
Yes, the OT reveals the NT. Jesus constantly quotes it.
Even on the cross He referenced Psalm 22, “father please forgive them” written hundreds of years before crucifixion existed. It states, “They pierced my hands and my feet”
The Eucharist is also a spiritual truth, not a command to physically consume Christ’s flesh.
Jesus defines His own metaphor in John 6:35:
• “Come to Me” = not hunger
• “Believe in Me” = not thirst
Just like in John 4, He wasn’t telling the Samaritan woman to drink literal water from His body. These are spiritual realities, not food rituals.
Most importantly, the Bible is complete and God repeatedly forbids adding to or taking away from what He commanded.
Canon laws and catechisms are man-made. They do not have the authority to rewrite the 4th Commandment.
Jesus rebuked that exact kind of religious authority, man-made rules replacing God’s Word, and He tore the veil to show that we are the temple, not an institution.
And this is the part that can’t be avoided:
Canon 29 openly commands Christians to work on the Sabbath, forbids resting on the day God said to remember, and enforces Sunday instead.
That is not Jesus.
That is not Scripture.
That is not the apostles.
That is man.
I’m choosing to follow what God commanded, not what later institutions modified.
With love and respect we need to read the Bible ourselves, not just the soundbites fed to us in churches.
OK, we in the Roman Catholic Church stand on 2000 years of tradition, Christ, the apostles who walked with Him, the early Church fathers, and the saints in their sourcing and interpreting the scripture and living faith as Christ instructed us to. What is your authority? You take a Bible given from the work and preservation of the Church and interpret it yourself? This is the heart of our biggest problem in America in Protestantism. No one can submit to any authority, so they are always subject to the ability of their reason to rationalize whatever they want and color how they interpret scripture. OR if they do submit to a Church, when it contradicts their understanding they leave it and go "shopping" for another one! I would love to know how you think Matthew 18:15-17 is supposed to be understood if you think you have access to the word of God despite claiming the Church who provided that scripture to you cannot be trusted! You are standing on nothing. This is how people are losing their faith or allowing it to be degraded into divorce, acceptance of sodomy, Zionism...
I actually agree with you on one thing: the biggest problem today is when people elevate their own reasoning above God’s authority.
That’s exactly why we cannot elevate man-made authority above what God already spoke.
Canon 29 is a perfect example — it forbids resting on the Sabbath, the day God told us to remember, the day Jesus declared he was Lord of, and replaces it with Sunday the day declared as the day of the sun god.
That isn’t what Jesus, the apostles, or Scripture ever commanded. That’s human tradition overriding God’s Word.
The same applies when the Pope calls himself the Vicar of Christ, claims power to forgive sins, or when believers are told to pray to departed saints. Scripture clearly says Jesus is our only mediator, and that salvation and access to the Father come through Him alone.
My authority is the same one Jesus and the apostles used: the Word of God.
The Word has existed since Creation, long before Moses.
Scripture says it is God-breathed, complete, and not to be added to or taken away from.
I’m not rejecting authority, I’m submitting to God’s authority.
If a church teaching contradicts what God wrote with His own finger in the commandments, I choose Scripture. And any church that teaches contrary to the Word as written in the Bible should be avoided.
As for Matthew 18, Jesus is talking about dealing with sin within a community of believers, not giving future institutions permission to rewrite His commandments.
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
In the first century, “the church” simply meant the gathered followers of Christ, not a centralized hierarchy.
I’m not church-hopping or chasing opinions.
I’m returning to what God actually said.
That’s not rebellion.
That’s obedience to Him.
The first followers of Jesus weren’t called Catholics — the Bible tells us exactly what they were called.
In Acts, believers are described as:
• The Way — Acts 9:2; Acts 24:14
• Nazarenes — Acts 24:5
• Disciples — Acts 11:26
• Believers — Acts 5:14
• Saints — Romans 1:7
• Brethren — Acts 15:23
These are the only names the New Testament uses for the original Church.
The word “Catholic” appears nowhere in Scripture.
Its first appearance in Christian writing is around A.D. 110 in Ignatius’ letter to the Smyrnaeans, where he uses “catholic” simply to mean universal, not the later Roman system.
Yes, the Nicene Creed in 381 A.D. says “one holy catholic and apostolic Church,” but “catholic” there means universal, not a denomination, and was written centuries after Acts.
The Church Jesus founded is described in the Bible, and the Bible calls His followers The Way, Disciples, Believers, and Saints, not Catholics.
What church, what faith are you?
You had previously said Catholic.
Yet you discredit the Bible and appear to have never read it.
You never cite any references for your views.
What book do you reference for your religion?
Where do you get the information from?
I say these things with love. I’d like to understand your faith and where you are getting your information from.
My “church” was established at Creation, reinforced by Jesus 2,000 years ago when he came to show us exactly how we are to live, honor God and each other.
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Is the Bible the Word of God?
Is the Bible the complete Word?
Proverbs 30:5–6
“Every word of God is pure…
Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar.”
Council of Laodicea – Canon 29 (4th Century A.D.)
“Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day;
rather, honour the Lord’s Day, and, if possible, rest then as Christians.
But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”
The Church is above the Bible,
and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.”**
— Catholic Record, Sept. 1, 1923
True. The Church existed for centuries before the Bible was compiled. The Church that Christ founded, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, determined the canon for the Bible. Christ commanded us to not only remember his teachings, but also do as he instructed us to do, such as celebration of the Eucharist. At the Last Supper he said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
You’re right that the early church existed before the Bible was compiled but God’s Word existed before the church, before Moses, and before creation itself.
John 1:1
“In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God.”
So the Church didn’t create God’s Word; it simply recognized what God had already spoken.
And Scripture is clear:
Deuteronomy 4:2 — “Do not add to the word… nor take from it.”
Proverbs 30:6 — “Do not add to His words.”
Revelation 22:18–19 — God warns against adding or removing.
Scripture is also clear. God never assigned a human to act in his place.
As for the Eucharist, Jesus said,
“Do this in remembrance of Me,”
not that the ritual itself saves, and certainly not that the Church gains authority over Scripture.
Again Jesus was speaking of belief in him. Not the actual eating of bread. Just as he didn’t literally mean drink his sweat when he was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well.
The issue isn’t whether the early church existed
it’s whether any church can contradict the Word that came before it.
According to the Bible: it cannot.
The Catholic Church agrees with you and painstakingly works to make sure whatever guidance or teaching it issues as part of the Magisterium does not contradict the word of God. Again, I am just a lay person with no formal education in theology, but what I can tell you is that you should open your heart to the accumulated wisdom of the Catholic Church, a great storehouse of intellectual and spiritual riches.
One book I recommend is by Dr. E Michael Jones called "Logos Rising." Because actually, the Gospel of John said "in the beginning there was the logos." The Greek word for logos gets translated into English as "word" but the word "logos" means much more than just "word". What I believe is that when we approach these questions with humility and a sincere effort to submit to God's will and Christ's teaching, we see that we must always remain humble about the limits of our human understanding and the danger of thinking we can direct ourselves without the guidance of His Church and all the Saints who have suffered for it. You don't have to agree, and I love and appreciate your love of Christ regardless, but this is how it looks to me.
If you are willing to consider Catholic sources, I highly recommend Peter Kreeft who was mentioned in the Homily today at mass. Scott Hahn I mentioned. Joseph Pearce went from jailed anarchist to Catholic due to the inspiration of the works of G K Chesterton. St. Augustine, genius about sin and human nature, stands tall throughout the ages. St. Thomas Aquinas helped us understand the relationship between faith and reason, protecting from the heresy of thinking our reason stands at the top, but also against the heresy that does not respect the great good of reason. Catholic wisdom is often about finding the proper balance between extremes, yet in a manner that is not moderate or milquetoast, if that makes any sense. I feel like that is what Chesterton was saying in the 3rd or 4th chapter of his book "Orthodoxy" that I am reading again. C. S. Lewis is not Catholic, but his writings are clearly bring people closer to Christ. I also appreciate the apologetics of Dr. John Lennox, another Protestant, but a great speaker who raises many important points for the case for Christ.
Anyhow, again, I am no theologian or spiritual advisor, but I am just so filled with gratitude for all of these amazing thinkers who have left us these treasures to help us deepen our love and understanding of what God calls us to do. My heart is so filled with love and gratitude for creation and Christ's sacrifice, that I feel a sacred and joyful duty to work to learn as much as I can from those who devoted their lives to Christ, starting with the most celebrated since they seemed to have been useful to many others before us. May God bless and protect you always, Brian.
Thanks for sharing this, I truly appreciate the sincerity behind what you wrote.
But you said something that forces a serious question:
“The Magisterium never contradicts the Word of God.”
So here’s the problem:
The Sabbath Was the First Holy Command God Ever Spoke
Before Moses, before Israel, before covenants — at Creation itself.
“God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” — Genesis 2:2–3
This was the first thing God ever made holy.
Then in the Ten Commandments God said:
“Remember the seventh day… the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.” — Exodus 20:8–11
Jesus called Himself Lord of the Sabbath — not Lord of Sunday.
And nowhere in Scripture did God ever change, repeal, or replace this command.
But Canon 29 did:
Canon 29 (Laodicea)
• Forbids resting on the Sabbath
• Commands Christians to work on it
• Curses anyone who keeps it
• Replaces it with Sunday, a day declared as sun god worship years prior
That’s not “protecting Scripture.”
That is contradicting the very command God said to remember.
Jesus warned about this repeatedly:
• “Wolves in sheep’s clothing.” (Matt. 7:15)
• “Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Mark 7:7–8)
God warns us not to add to His Word, not to go beyond what is written, and to test every spirit (Deut. 4:2; 1 Cor. 4:6; 1 John 4:1).
I’m not rejecting tradition, I’m rejecting tradition that contradicts God’s Word.
Replacing God’s holy day with a pagan sun god day doesn’t honor Him; it violates the First Commandment.
When the Church contradicts Scripture, Scripture wins every time.
May God bless you. And may His Word, not human tradition, be our final authority.
Are you a Messianic Jew or a Seventh Day Adventist? Why the obsession with why Christians worship differently than the old testament? We also no longer have animal sacrifice in the temple and the temple was destroyed as Christ predicted would occur. Attempts to rebuild it under Julian the Apostate were thwarted by what appeared to be divine intervention. Why is Jesus the new sacrifice, the lamb? You might want to check into why Catholics claim Sunday is the Sabbath:
https://youtu.be/GKRQbWLVBpM
https://www.catholic.com/tract/sabbath-or-sunday
I am not sure myself, but I am not convinced this is an important question to solve. I come across many Protestants who exhibit a hermaneutic of scepticism which I think is a dangerous hubris that can take people away from God. Chesterton talks a bit about scepticism in this book Orthodoxy:
https://youtu.be/_WUc3Z4BGyY
But if this is a sincere question and not an effort to attempt to detract from the Church founded by Christ, then keep seeking and you shall find. God will not mislead you if you are willing to submit to Him and ask him to guide your search for Him.
Are you asking by what authority man changed the Commandments. None, there is no authority allowed per the Bible.
But the Catholic Church claimed authority anyway as evidenced by Canon 29.
Cite for me where the Bible authorizes the change of the 4 th Commandment. The one God told us to “remember”. The one that Jesus declared he is Lord of.
There is nowhere in the Bible that Hid says never mind you do as you want.
The reality the church changed it to appeal to Roman gentiles and to distance themselves from the Jews.
Everyone forgets Gods Holy Sabbath was established at Creation, long before Abraham, Noah and long before there were any Jews.
Jesus said the Sabbath is a gift to man, not to the “Jews”
Please cite your references for your claims.
https://www.catholic.com/tract/what-catholic-means
The new sacrifice replaces the old. The veil on the temple was rent when Jesus died. . Jesus said the temple would be destroyed. It was in 70AD. It is almost like you missed the Good News...
What good news did I miss?
That Christ is the fulfillment of the covenant
Have you heard of typology? Scott Hahn explains it clearly in the testimony I shared with you. You don't seem to have listened to it. If you want to understand how Catholics experience our faith, it is very instructive.
https://youtu.be/DCD6QF1jCyg
Thank you for reading.
I understand that certain people choose to not read the Bible for themselves and they choose to not read Catholic Canon or Catechisms.
So I will cite the references first you to look up and verify what I write here. Theo, I know you not like to read or quote the Bible, Canon or anything relevant. Please have an open mind and read for yourself.
Firstly, the Bible is the absolute Truth, the complete Word of God. The Bible states it is not to be altered.
Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you,
nor take from it…”
Whether you like it not the Catholic Church changed Gods Word in supplemental Catholic papers.
364 A.D. Council of Laodicean the church issued Canon 29
“Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day; rather, honour the Lord’s Day, and, if possible, rest then as Christians.
But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”
However, God did not authorize this change to his 4 th Commandment. The day Jesus said he was Lord of God did not change or abolish.
The Church chose to move to the day that Rome already had declared the day of the sun god.
The church moved Gods Holy Sabbath to another gods day.
321 A.D., Constantine issued a civil edict declaring Sunday — “the venerable day of the Sun” (Latin venerabili die solis) — as a day of rest for magistrates and city-folk, closing courts and workshops.
274 A.D. Emperor Aurelian established Sol Invictus as the supreme deity of Rome.
The first day of the week was already called dies Solis — the day of the Sun.
The Catholic Church, which despised the Jews attempted to change God’s appointed feasts and times to separate themselves from the Jews and to pander to gentiles.
Read the Catholic Church records for yourself.
305 A.D.– Council of Elvira Canon 16 “Christians must not marry Jews…”
325 A.D. - Emperor Constantine’s letter to the churches after Nicaea, preserved by Eusebius, states: “… let us have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd…”
1215 A.D. Fourth Lateran Council Canon 68 “Jews and Saracens must be distinguished from Christians by the character of their dress…
so that they may not come into contact with Christians.”
1555 A.D. Papal Bull Cum nimis absurdum Pope Paul IV “It is absurd and utterly unacceptable that the Jews… should live among Christians.”
Didache is not Scripture, and it never mentions “Sunday.”
Why do you refuse to provide any references?
Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?
“Lord’s Day” is not defined in the Bible as the first day of the week.
The only day God commands for weekly rest or worship is the Sabbath (7th day).
And the New Testament still calls it the Sabbath:
• Luke 23:56–24:1
• Acts 13:42, 44
• Acts 16:13
• Hebrews 4:9
People did gather and share meals om other days but they always honored the Sabbath.
There is no place in the Word of God that changed or deleted the Holy Day he tood us to remember & the day Jesus said he is Lord of.
The Lords Day is the 7th day Sabbath as Jesus said he is Lord of it.
Unless you can cite a scripture where Jesus said the first day is the new Lords Day?
The only reference i can find changing Gods Holy day was written by man Canon 29, not God.
I hear your passion for tradition, monarchy, and political identity but none of that is the authority Jesus pointed us to.
Your online bio says “Dios, Rey y Patria.”
Yiu claim to be aligned with Gid yet yiu refuse to acknowledge his Wordcas the ultimate authority.
You seem to believe that man can act in place of God.
But the Bible says God alone is King, and His Word — not monarchy, not nationalism, not tradition — is the standard.
So let’s keep this simple:
Revelation doesn’t say the end-time saints are the ones who defend political systems, historical institutions, or church traditions.
It says:
“Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
— Revelation 14:12
Not tradition.
Not councils.
Not monarchies.
Not political philosophies.
Not “the revolution” or anti-revolution rhetoric.
Not a specific church institution.
Just:
God’s commandments
+
The faith of Jesus.
That’s the identity God recognizes.
Everything else including the institutions we grew up trusting has to be tested by Scripture (1 Thess. 5:21).
You stand on tradition.
I stand on the Word.
If tradition contradicts Scripture, Scripture wins every time.
Theo
You stated you need to consult the magisterium about canon 29 outlawing the sabbath by name.
Your responses to date have been your opinion not the church’s. Which is a violation of your religion according to the CCC you quoted me.
So did the church provide a response ehy they outlawed Gods first command, the one he told us to remember, the only one He sanctified, the one Jesus a Jew declared He is lord of? The one that existed way before there were Jews.
Is it as dimple as antisemitism?
But Gods Word is His Word for all of His followers regardless of culture & race.
Or does your religion believe in a different god, not YHWH?
I’m writing to people who genuinely want a relationship with YHWH and are willing to examine His Word for themselves.
You appear to prefer magisterial authority over Scripture, your allegiance is to man and man’s traditions. Not YHWH.
That’s your choice.
You spew hate with your unsupported opinions. Yiu offer no references and you so not encourage people to read the Word and connect with YHWH.
I’ve cited Scripture and church documents throughout. You’ve cited neither only assertions, followed by attacks.
If you want to engage seriously, support your claims with biblical text or historical sources.
If not, there’s nothing left to debate.
You have proven yourself to be misguided and a spreader of hate and intolerance. Appropriate given the words of the church over the millennia attacking the Jews.
We are all children of YHWH.
That’s not dismissal, it’s accountability.
Theo, I’m simply asking for references because you are making historical and biblical claims with no citations — not even Scripture.
You said the Didache supports Sunday worship.
You said “Lord’s Day” means Sunday.
You said early Christians kept both days.
But you provided zero sources — not even a verse.
Meanwhile, everything I’ve stated is backed by Scripture:
• The Sabbath is consistently called the 7th day in both OT and NT.
• Luke 23:56–24:1
• Acts 13:42, 44
• Acts 16:13
• Hebrews 4:9
• Jesus explicitly says He is Lord of the Sabbath, not Sunday.
• The Bible never defines “Lord’s Day” as the first day of the week.
• The Didache is not Scripture and does not mention “Sunday,” and you have not provided any citation showing otherwise.
You brought up the Ethiopian Church — but even your own example proves my point:
they kept Sabbath because Scripture says Sabbath.
Their additional practice of Sunday came from later tradition, not a biblical change of God’s command.
I’m not rejecting history — I’m asking for sources.
I’m also not refusing extra-biblical writings — I’m simply saying they cannot override Scripture.
If you believe the Bible is the Word of God, then it must be the ultimate authority.
If you believe tradition can contradict Scripture, then be honest and say so.
I’m following what God actually said.
If you want to discuss this respectfully, just provide one clear reference for your claims — especially the meaning of “Lord’s Day” and your Didache interpretation.
Until then, I’m staying with Scripture.
I suggest you read the Bible yourself.
I do not “ignore history and tradition,”. Just the opposite. I call it out for what it is when it violates the Word of YHWH.
You seem to think if the church says it is true. You refuse to fact check the church. You are blind.
You say you’re anti-Republican, but you didn’t list Democrats in your “anti-” list.
So let’s get to the point.
This isn’t about party labels.
This is about one question:
Do you support abortion?
Because Scripture is unambiguous:
• God forms the child in the womb (Psalm 139:13)
• God knows the child before birth (Jeremiah 1:5)
• The unborn child is called a “baby” (Luke 1:41)
• Violence against the unborn was punishable as murder (Exodus 21:22–23)
You cannot claim to follow God while defending what God calls murder.
Even secular scientists admit they don’t know exactly when life begins — meaning abortion risks killing a living human being simply out of uncertainty.
That’s not morality.
That’s moral blindness.
So I’ll ask again:
Are you a true believer in God?
Because if you are, then you cannot support any person, policy, or party that promotes the destruction of a child God Himself formed.
This isn’t politics.
It’s basic obedience to the God you claim to follow.
You keep appealing to history and tradition, but Jesus appealed to Scripture as the final authority:
Mark 7:7–8
“You reject the commandment of God so that you may keep your tradition.”
That’s the issue here — not Adventism, not denominations, not institutions.
God’s Word vs. human tradition.
Scripture existed before the Catholic Church (John 1:1) and corrects every religious system — including ancient ones.
Truth isn’t determined by age or size; it’s determined by God’s Word:
Isaiah 40:8
“The word of our God stands forever.”
As for the Sabbath:
the Pilgrims kept Sunday because of tradition, not Scripture. Even the Catholic Church admits it changed the day.
I’m not rejecting history and I’m refusing to put tradition above Scripture.
Jesus commands us to.
1 Thessalonians 5:21
“Test everything.”
And if something contradicts God’s Word, I choose God.
Such as Canon 29 outlawing Gods command. The one he told us to remember, the one Jesus declared he was Lord of. The one that Gentiles and Jews honored after Jesus departed.
I know you despise the Bible and refuse to read it or quote it. Which begs the question what faith are you?
Revelation 22:14
“Blessed are those who keep His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”
And Happy Thanksgiving to all. With a question: how many people give thanks daily, whether to God, to Nature, to Life, or out of just plain gratitude. Here's a poem by a woman named Loretta Carmickle which appeared in April, 2010 in the weekly newspaper Tucson Weekly.
The Supreme Good
The young ones gathered at the feet of the old woman.
"Tell us, Mother, what is the chief end in life--
The summum bonum?"
Her mind rolls back through eighty-some years--
A life filled with
Sorrows and joys
Drudgeries and exhilarations
Tragedies and triumphs.
The young ones wait patiently for her answer.
Its simplicity when it comes, astounds them.
No admonition to do or be good.
No admonition to love God and keep his commandments.
No admonition to "know thyself."
No admonition to seek truth and grow in wisdom.
She answers simply:
"The chief end in life is gratitude,
And the only prayer you need ever utter is 'thank you.'"
Thank you for the poem. I wonder to whom Carmickle is thanking?
Existence, I'd say.
You are a blinkered fool.