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[[Image:Girl on hill.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The spirit of the Sabbath is joy, refreshment and mercy, arising from remembrance of God's goodness as Creator and as the Deliverer from bondage.]]

[[Image:Girl on hill.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The spirit of the Sabbath is joy, refreshment and mercy, arising from remembrance of God's goodness as Creator and as the Deliverer from bondage.]]

<small>''This article is about the [[Christian]] day of rest. For the Sabbath in [[Judaism]] see [[Shabbat]].''</small><br>The '''Sabbath''' ([[Hebrew]]: שַׁבָּת‎ ''shabbat'' "the day to cease/rest") is a weekly [[religion|religious]] day of rest as ordained by [[God]] in the [[Ten Commandments]]: <blockquote>''Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.'' ([[Exodus]] 20:8-11)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020:8-11&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>

<small>''This article is about the [[Christian]] day of rest. For the Sabbath in [[Judaism]] see [[Shabbat]].''</small><br>The '''Sabbath''' ([[Hebrew]]: שַׁבָּת‎ ''shabbat'' "the day to cease/rest"), is the seventh day of the week, the day being counted from sunset to sunset, that is, from Friday evening to Saturday evening.  It is a weekly religious day of rest as ordained by God in the [[Ten Commandments]]: <blockquote>''Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.'' ([[Exodus]] 20:8-11)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020:8-11&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a Protestant denomination founded in America in the 1860s during the [[Second Great Awakening]]. The basic tenets of Adventism were based on a version of [[premillennial]] evangelical Protestantism and focused on the prophecy that Christ would return in 1844. They also strongly held the belief that the Sabbath was Saturday (the 7th day), so they opposed laws making Sunday the Sabbath.  

Christians in the second century stopped using the seventh day (Saturday) and switched their services to the first day of the week, Sunday, in honor of the Resurrection.  The Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a Protestant denomination founded in America in the 1860s during the [[Second Great Awakening]]. They strongly hold the belief that the God intended the Sabbath to be Saturday (the 7th day), so they oppose laws making Sunday the Sabbath.  

==Bible==

==Bible==

Jesus observed the seventh-day Sabbath not because it was Judaic tradition or the culture of the time.  Jesus' teaching in these verses is summarized by Freedman: "At times Jesus is interpreted to have abrogated or suspended the Sabbath commandment on the basis of controversies brought about by Sabbath healings and other acts. Careful analysis of the respective passages does not seem to give credence to this interpretation. The action of plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath by the disciples is particularly important in this matter. Jesus makes a foundational pronouncement: "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). The disciples' act of plucking grain infringed against the rabbinic halakhah of minute casuistry in which it was forbidden to reap, thresh, winnow, and grind on the Sabbath. Jesus reforms the Sabbath and restores it to its rightful place as designed in creation, where the Sabbath is made for all mankind and not specifically for Israel, as claimed by normative Judaism. It was God's will at creation that the Sabbath have the purpose of serving mankind for rest and [to] bring blessing."<ref>Freedman, David Noel ''Sabbath'' "The Anchor Bible Dictionary" vol. v; pp 855-856 (Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group; 1992) ISBN 0-3854-2583-X</ref>

Jesus observed the seventh-day Sabbath not because it was Judaic tradition or the culture of the time.  Jesus' teaching in these verses is summarized by Freedman: "At times Jesus is interpreted to have abrogated or suspended the Sabbath commandment on the basis of controversies brought about by Sabbath healings and other acts. Careful analysis of the respective passages does not seem to give credence to this interpretation. The action of plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath by the disciples is particularly important in this matter. Jesus makes a foundational pronouncement: "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). The disciples' act of plucking grain infringed against the rabbinic halakhah of minute casuistry in which it was forbidden to reap, thresh, winnow, and grind on the Sabbath. Jesus reforms the Sabbath and restores it to its rightful place as designed in creation, where the Sabbath is made for all mankind and not specifically for Israel, as claimed by normative Judaism. It was God's will at creation that the Sabbath have the purpose of serving mankind for rest and [to] bring blessing."<ref>Freedman, David Noel ''Sabbath'' "The Anchor Bible Dictionary" vol. v; pp 855-856 (Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group; 1992) ISBN 0-3854-2583-X</ref>

==The Seventh Day Adventists==

==The Seventh Day Adventists==

"Seventh-day" means the observance of the original Sabbath, Saturday, is still a sacred obligation. Adventists argue that just as the rest of the Ten Commandments had not been revised, so also the injunction to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" remained in full force. But this theological point turned the young group into a powerful force for religious liberty. Growing into its full stature in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these Adventists opposed Sunday laws on every side. Many were arrested for working on Sunday.  In fighting against the real threat of a legally established National Day of worship, these Sabbatarians had to fight for their liberty on a daily basis. Soon, they were fighting for religious liberty on a broader, less parochial basis.

"Seventh-day" means the observance of the original Sabbath, Saturday, is still a sacred obligation. Adventists argue that just as the rest of the Ten Commandments had not been revised, so also the injunction to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" remained in full force. But this theological point in the late 19th century turned the young group into a powerful force for religious liberty. Growing into its full stature in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these Adventists opposed Sunday laws on every side. Many were arrested for working on Sunday.  In fighting against the real threat of a legally established National Day of worship, these Sabbatarians had to fight for their liberty on a daily basis. Soon, they were fighting for religious liberty on a broader, less parochial basis. The fear that other Protestants would establish a Christian Sunday expanded into opposition to the establishment of a "Christian" identity for the nation, and opposition to school prayer. This led to alliances with secularists in the American political spectrum.<ref> Douglas Morgan, ''Adventism and the American Republic: The Public Involvement of a Major Apocalyptic Movement.'' (2001)</ref>  

 

The fear that other Protestants would establish a Christian Sunday expanded into opposition to the establishment of a "Christian" identity for the nation, and opposition to school prayer. This led to alliances with secularists in the American political spectrum.<ref> Douglas Morgan, ''Adventism and the American Republic: The Public Involvement of a Major Apocalyptic Movement.'' (2001)</ref>  

 

==References==

==References==

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