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.
Though there's no religious obligation to celebrate Thanksgiving, it's a civil/secular holiday and a day cannot be Holy Day of Obligation because some secular leader declare it so.
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”
"Over time, the papal system outlawed the Sabbath, churches forgot the command to rest, and religion replaced intimacy with ritual."
What Mr. Campbell laments as the "papal system" is in truth, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. The faith Campbell speaks of has no historical legitimacy- no one in the 1st century would recognize his tradition which ignores the day of resurrection in favor of continuing the Jewish custom of the Sabbath - Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Oriental Orthodox Christians, and the Assyrian Church of the East all rest on Sunday - in Spanish and other similar Latin based languages - it's called "Domingo", "of the Lord".
"I am spiritual but not religious" - here Mr. Campbell to speaks of this rather modernist presumption that we can have saving faith without religion- that is a lie that has never been orthodox - ever. Since the time of the Apostles we have always recognized a visible Church through the hierarchy - the Bishops that we are taught and led by. We follow a creed - the same creed from Nicea all those centuries ago and it is this tradition passed down from the Apostles to their successors that we have intimacy with.
As for these assertions; "God Provided This Land and We Knew It
For centuries, Americans understood this.
That’s why our pledge says, “One nation, under God.”
Not under government.
Not under a king.
Under God.
That’s why our dollar says, “In God We Trust."
They are wrong. Our pledge says one nation under God because it was added as such during the Cold War - it was for the sake of propaganda- the "Christian" America/West against the anti clerical USSR [The Addition (1954): The phrase "under God" was officially added by Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.]
And the "In God We trust" first appeared on coinage during the Civil War because of increases religious sentiment, it wasn't even the official motto until 1964.
I see from your language you haven’t learned from Jesus yet. Are you still refusing to back up any of your claims with references. And are you still refusing to cite the Bible as well?
"The Bible-" is prone to being exploited by people to support their own beliefs. Every heretic or schismatic can easily quote scripture as can the devil.
You must first prove your anti Catholic presumption before demanding a reference from me.
You say you are a Catholic. Yet you refuse to cite any Bible references, Catholic Canon or Catechisms.
Where do you get your information from?
And why do you seem frustrated and angry in every post?
I just wanted to share a few verses that have shaped my understanding. Not to argue but to explain why I personally believe God’s Word is complete and unchanging. Meaning anything that man writes to change Gods Word is invalid.
I encourage you to read the full text first yourself.
Malachi 3:6
“For I am the LORD, I do not change.”
Deuteronomy 12:32
“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
2 Timothy 3:16–17
“All Scripture is inspired by God… so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Mark 7:7–9
“In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men… You reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
Isaiah 40:8
“The word of our God stands forever.”
Revelation 22:18–19
“If anyone adds to these things… and if anyone takes away… God shall take away his part from the Book of Life.”
For me, these verses make it clear that God’s Word isn’t something we edit, expand, or supplement with human ideas, even well-intended ones.
I’m not trying to win a debate, just sharing why I believe Scripture has to remain the final authority.
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!
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.”
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.
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.”
I find it completely disingenuous and quote frankly, annoying Mr. Campbell you would smuggle your anti Catholic polemic - in addition to this "Americana mythology" of Thanksgiving as this holiday that echoes the narratives of the Old Testament.
You do not argue why your tradition is correct, you presuppose it is and dismiss the faith of most Christians [1.74 billion Christians are baptized in the combined 4 Apostolic Communions - Catholic, Eastern/Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East] and almost 2 millenia of Church history and tradition? It is convenient to make such a Sectarian peice today as any pushback will be seen as "promoting disunity", even though you were the one who made these feel good platitudes mixed in with anti Catholic and ahistorical claims. And you almost always do this whenever I see an piece from you - you do this concerning Easter, you do this today on Thanksgiving.
It's most curious you celebrate a non Christian Holiday [Thanksgiving didn't exist for most of history], framing it as a quasi Holy Day of Obligation, but you dismiss worship on the day the Christians of the first century did - Sunday. That's one of the most glaring issues with your article, deligitimizing this day that has always been holy for all of Church history.
Please, stop doing mixing in these messages about Thanksgiving, piety, etc with your polemic attacks.
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.”
"The Didache, an early Christian document, instructs believers to gather for worship and "break bread" (communion) on the Lord's Day, which is widely understood to be Sunday. Chapter 14 of the Didache explicitly states:"But every Lord's day, gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure". This text, generally dated to the late first or early second century, is considered one of the earliest non-scriptural sources (along with New Testament passages like Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2) to reference the practice of Sunday worship among Christians.
The observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, was a common practice in the early church to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which occurred on that day. This distinguished Christian worship from the Jewish Sabbath observance on Saturday."
I don't know why you bother asking, you're unwilling to accept anything "beyond the Bible" and even then only if it fits your interpretation.
You have your own version of Church history - a parallel universe that cannot be reconciled with truth, and if you continue to engage in this way after being repeatedly corrected I am just going to ignore such comments.
But hey - here's "your" Church that celebrates the Sabbath and the Lord's Day, you wanted an ancient Church "uncorrupted" by Rome, here's one that had no ties to the Roman Empire - Ethiopa; "Yes, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church honors the Sabbath (Saturday) in addition to Sunday. Both Saturday and Sunday are considered holy days, though they have different observances. The Saturday Sabbath is observed as a day of rest, in continuity with Old Testament tradition, while Sunday is celebrated as the Lord's Day, commemorating Christ's resurrection. This practice has historical roots in the Ewostathian movement and was officially adopted by the church."
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.
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
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
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.
That's pluralism, not freedom.*
Though there's no religious obligation to celebrate Thanksgiving, it's a civil/secular holiday and a day cannot be Holy Day of Obligation because some secular leader declare it so.
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.
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?
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.
"Over time, the papal system outlawed the Sabbath, churches forgot the command to rest, and religion replaced intimacy with ritual."
What Mr. Campbell laments as the "papal system" is in truth, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. The faith Campbell speaks of has no historical legitimacy- no one in the 1st century would recognize his tradition which ignores the day of resurrection in favor of continuing the Jewish custom of the Sabbath - Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Oriental Orthodox Christians, and the Assyrian Church of the East all rest on Sunday - in Spanish and other similar Latin based languages - it's called "Domingo", "of the Lord".
"I am spiritual but not religious" - here Mr. Campbell to speaks of this rather modernist presumption that we can have saving faith without religion- that is a lie that has never been orthodox - ever. Since the time of the Apostles we have always recognized a visible Church through the hierarchy - the Bishops that we are taught and led by. We follow a creed - the same creed from Nicea all those centuries ago and it is this tradition passed down from the Apostles to their successors that we have intimacy with.
As for these assertions; "God Provided This Land and We Knew It
For centuries, Americans understood this.
That’s why our pledge says, “One nation, under God.”
Not under government.
Not under a king.
Under God.
That’s why our dollar says, “In God We Trust."
They are wrong. Our pledge says one nation under God because it was added as such during the Cold War - it was for the sake of propaganda- the "Christian" America/West against the anti clerical USSR [The Addition (1954): The phrase "under God" was officially added by Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.]
And the "In God We trust" first appeared on coinage during the Civil War because of increases religious sentiment, it wasn't even the official motto until 1964.
Theo, Theo, Theo.
I see from your language you haven’t learned from Jesus yet. Are you still refusing to back up any of your claims with references. And are you still refusing to cite the Bible as well?
I cited a few below in a separate comment.
"The Bible-" is prone to being exploited by people to support their own beliefs. Every heretic or schismatic can easily quote scripture as can the devil.
You must first prove your anti Catholic presumption before demanding a reference from me.
I really appreciate this conversation Theo.
You say you are a Catholic. Yet you refuse to cite any Bible references, Catholic Canon or Catechisms.
Where do you get your information from?
And why do you seem frustrated and angry in every post?
I just wanted to share a few verses that have shaped my understanding. Not to argue but to explain why I personally believe God’s Word is complete and unchanging. Meaning anything that man writes to change Gods Word is invalid.
I encourage you to read the full text first yourself.
Malachi 3:6
“For I am the LORD, I do not change.”
Deuteronomy 12:32
“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
2 Timothy 3:16–17
“All Scripture is inspired by God… so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Mark 7:7–9
“In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men… You reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
Isaiah 40:8
“The word of our God stands forever.”
Revelation 22:18–19
“If anyone adds to these things… and if anyone takes away… God shall take away his part from the Book of Life.”
For me, these verses make it clear that God’s Word isn’t something we edit, expand, or supplement with human ideas, even well-intended ones.
I’m not trying to win a debate, just sharing why I believe Scripture has to remain the final authority.
Much love and respect to all of you.
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!
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.
Your Church was founded in 1863 in New England. Do not speak of "the Bible" when it was Catholics who compiled it in the 4th century.
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
Where is your authority?
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
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.”
I find it completely disingenuous and quote frankly, annoying Mr. Campbell you would smuggle your anti Catholic polemic - in addition to this "Americana mythology" of Thanksgiving as this holiday that echoes the narratives of the Old Testament.
You do not argue why your tradition is correct, you presuppose it is and dismiss the faith of most Christians [1.74 billion Christians are baptized in the combined 4 Apostolic Communions - Catholic, Eastern/Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East] and almost 2 millenia of Church history and tradition? It is convenient to make such a Sectarian peice today as any pushback will be seen as "promoting disunity", even though you were the one who made these feel good platitudes mixed in with anti Catholic and ahistorical claims. And you almost always do this whenever I see an piece from you - you do this concerning Easter, you do this today on Thanksgiving.
It's most curious you celebrate a non Christian Holiday [Thanksgiving didn't exist for most of history], framing it as a quasi Holy Day of Obligation, but you dismiss worship on the day the Christians of the first century did - Sunday. That's one of the most glaring issues with your article, deligitimizing this day that has always been holy for all of Church history.
Please, stop doing mixing in these messages about Thanksgiving, piety, etc with your polemic attacks.
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.”
"The Didache, an early Christian document, instructs believers to gather for worship and "break bread" (communion) on the Lord's Day, which is widely understood to be Sunday. Chapter 14 of the Didache explicitly states:"But every Lord's day, gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure". This text, generally dated to the late first or early second century, is considered one of the earliest non-scriptural sources (along with New Testament passages like Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2) to reference the practice of Sunday worship among Christians.
The observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, was a common practice in the early church to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which occurred on that day. This distinguished Christian worship from the Jewish Sabbath observance on Saturday."
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 don't know why you bother asking, you're unwilling to accept anything "beyond the Bible" and even then only if it fits your interpretation.
You have your own version of Church history - a parallel universe that cannot be reconciled with truth, and if you continue to engage in this way after being repeatedly corrected I am just going to ignore such comments.
But hey - here's "your" Church that celebrates the Sabbath and the Lord's Day, you wanted an ancient Church "uncorrupted" by Rome, here's one that had no ties to the Roman Empire - Ethiopa; "Yes, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church honors the Sabbath (Saturday) in addition to Sunday. Both Saturday and Sunday are considered holy days, though they have different observances. The Saturday Sabbath is observed as a day of rest, in continuity with Old Testament tradition, while Sunday is celebrated as the Lord's Day, commemorating Christ's resurrection. This practice has historical roots in the Ewostathian movement and was officially adopted by the church."
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.