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Have you ever wondered why people go to Church on Sundays, as opposed to any other day of the week, and why Sunday is a “day of rest” even for those who don’t? We have a semi-pagan Roman Emperor to thank!
Constantine, who ruled as Emperor from 306 to 337, is credited as being the first Christian Emperor, the legend being that he had a vision of Christ during the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 that convinced him that adopting the Christian religion was the key to victory. With the battle won and his pagan enemies put to flight, he and his subjects all became overnight Christians.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eboracum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>
However, the story is nothing like as straightforward as that. The word that best defines Constantine is “ambiguous”, and it is impossible to be certain where the borders lay between the Christian and the politician within the person of the Emperor. One thing that is definite, however, is that Constantine’s motivation was always based on the furtherance of his power and the safety of the Empire.
For one thing, Constantine never lost his attachment to the worship of Sol Invictus, the “unconquered Sun”. For him, the God of the Christians was either another name for Sol Invictus or a close relative. Even after he adopted Christianity, Constantine’s coins displayed images of Sol Invictus, not Jesus Christ.
<a href="https://altzar.net/2015/07/10/are-greek-karmic-public-debts-interrelated/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>
(Constantine accompanied by Sol Invictus)
On 7th March 321 Constantine issued a decree that stated: “On the venerable day of the Sun, let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed”. He did not, however, place restrictions on agricultural work, on the grounds that food production was too important to be interrupted.
There were also political and practical reasons for the choice of Sunday. It was pay day for most workers, and many Christians had already adopted Sunday as their day of worship – although this was far from universal, with Saturday being preferred by Christians in Rome and Alexandria.
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Constantine_the_Great_at_the_Milvian_Bridge.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>
(The Battle of the Milvian Bridge)
Although the Emperor was the most powerful man in the Empire, a wise one always governed – as far as possible – in accordance with the general will of those being governed. The senatorial upper classes, from whom any opposition was most likely to come, were also devotees of Sol Invictus and they were therefore likely to accept a move that recognized the place of their chosen deity alongside that recently adopted by the Emperor. If you rule an Empire that contains both Christians and pagans, and can please both communities, why not do so?
Of course, there were some who objected to the edict and stuck to their previous practice, and even today there are groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists who see the Jewish Sabbath, on Saturday, as being the day laid down in Genesis as the day of rest. However, most Christians see no problem with following the dictate of a Roman Emperor from 1700 years ago. That said, the modern practice of taking two days off as the “weekend” of both Saturday and Sunday does seem to make the debate a somewhat academic one!
Well, this is a different knowledge to what was taught in Sunday school when I was a child (because my parents are Catholic). The resurrection of the Lord is the subject of the Christian faith and the resurrection of Jesus takes place on Sunday, which is called the first day of the week (Lk 24: 1). After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus appeared on the way to Emmaus, and broke bread in front of His disciples on the day of His resurrection, Sunday, the first day of the week (Luke 24: 13-35, Luke 24: 1). The first Gentile Christian church celebrates the Lord’s day on Sunday (Acts 20: 7; 1 Cor. 16: 2). Furthermore, the celebration of the Lord’s Day for Christians is the Sunday that is said to be the first day of the week, and not the last day of the week (not the Sabbath). This view is not to argue, I just want to say that what you point out is new to me, although practically, today the difference is not interesting or influential to me.
There is no debate for the retail industry! You work every weekend and if you are fortunate to get holidays off, but most people work the holidays too. There’s no Superbowl fun, no going to church and no time for any nonsense. It’s just life for those who work retail.
Hm! Come back Constantine, all is forgiven! You are quite right – Sunday observance has been almost totally abandoned in the modern world, although there are some parts of the UK where this is not so – the outer Hebridean islands of Scotland, for example, where virtually nowhere is open on a Sunday and no sport or entertainment is permitted.
I try to never get into a debate/conversation about religion or politics.
Religion is a long way to go for debate. All we need is to respect each other’s beliefs and values
I’m a Sabbath worshipper. Worshipping on Sunday’s is the wrong doing. That’s not the real Sabbath. The real Sabbath which is the 7th day of the week. If you look on the calendar the 7th day of the week is Saturday.
Christians worshipped on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, long before Constantine. We are not bound by the Jewish ceremonial law.
The point seems to be that not all Christians followed the same tradition. Also, Constantine seemed to want to lay down a “day of rest” – for all citizens of the Empire – which is not necessarily the same thing as a “day of worship”. However, the connection between the two is strong – how can people attend Church if they have to be at work?
Constantine did not have the influence over the church that many believe. If he had that kind of power, the church would be Arian.
I agree that Sundays should be reserved for worship as it used to be. I can see the need for policemen, firemen or hospital workers, but we could do without a lot of the stuff that goes on during the Lord’s Day. When I was a kid, there were laws that forced a lot of businesses to close on Sundays. However, as the country began to turn away from God, those laws were dropped.
Your comment re Arius is interesting. My understanding was that Constantine imposed the Nicene Creed on the Church as a means of compromising between the two strands of thought then in vogue – with Arius actually having more followers than his rival Alexander. The Nicene Creed made it impossible to be a fully-fledged Arian and remain in the Church.
Even the use of halos in christian art is taken from sun gods. That practice came to us from Constantine as well. Depicting angels as chubby winged infants is also a Roman tradition…
An interesting point – thanks for making it.
The amount of symbolism in religious art is staggering, and the evolution of traditions is a long and convoluted, repeated across cultures and centuries
I thought we worship sunday because in the Bible it’s written God took the seventh day to rest. Since we are made in God’s semblance, we rest sunday too
I wasn’t aware that Genesis named the days of the week! Any day could have been the 7th.
the Sabbath (Saturday) has always been the seventh day. Sunday is the first day
Ah, that’s why jews worship on saturday
it is also why they go to temple on Friday evening (they are forbidden to labor on the Sabbath)
The Adventists believe the Catholic Church is the anti-Christ, and it ties in with Sunday worship.
I remember asking my mom why we worshiped on Sunday instead of Saturday. She said it has always been that way.
great
First time I learned about this. What I know is, Early Christians moved the day of worship to Sunday because Jesus Christ resurrected on a Sunday.
Thanks for sharing this
The evidence seems to be that this was not a universal move.
Very interesting.