But to proceed,} that it might be fully known to the whole Church in time, that the day was changed indeed, they gave it a new name, calling it the Lord’s Day, that the very name itself might with a loud voice, as it were with the sound of a trumpet, proclaim thus much unto the whole world. Yea among them which had not yet submitted themselves to the observation of this day. For thus St. John calls it in the Revelation. I was ravished in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10). By which as it is agreed upon of all sides, that he means this very day which we observe, so when he gives it this name, writing unto the church to whom he would commend this prophecy, he shows that then it began at least to be so called, and was in his time known by that name to some, he living longer than the rest of the apostles. And so as the bounds of the gospel were enlarged, and it was by little and little in more places entertained (neither could so great a thing in all places be done at once), so with it also was the observation of this new day, together with the change of the name thereof |89| in some places entertained also.
And therefore Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, living in the time of this apostle, says of it, Omnis qui Christum amat, “Let every one that loves Christ keep holy the Lord’s Day, renowned by His resurrection, which is the Queen of all days, in which death is overcome, and life is sprung up in Christ.”180 And so after him in other places, it was thus called and kept. For as Eusebius makes mention in his ecclesiastical history, Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, who lived about the year of Christ 166,181 speaks thus, “Hodie, today we have celebrated the Lord’s holy day.”182 And Justin Martyr, not long after him does not only name the Lord’s Day, but shows how it was observed then, even as it is of us, when he says, “That they met in one place to hear the writings of the prophets,” etc.183 And Tertullian after him among the solemn days of the Christians then observed, does first of all name the Lord’s Day.184 Thus we may see that this change was made and approved of the Church from the beginning, and so has continued unto our time.
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180. Ignatius, ad magnes. [Cf. ANF 1, p. 63; cf. William Cureton, Corpus Ignatianum: A Complete Collection of the Ignatian Epistles (Berlin: Asher and Co., 1849) 68. Bownd is possibly citing Chemntiz’s Latin paraphrase from the Greek of the long version of the letter to the Magnesians. “Omnis qui Christum amat, festum celebret dominicam diem, resurrectione insignem, quæ suprema et regina est omnium dirum, in qua mors devicta, et vita nostra exorta est in Christo, quem filii perditionis negant…” (Martin Chemnitz, Examen Concilii Tridentini, De Festis {Berlin, 1861} 911). The long version is now thought to be a later writer’s interpolation of the shorter original. Cf. Sancti Martyris Ignatii, Antiochiæ Archiepiscopi, Epistolæ (Paris, 1558) 17. “… dominicum diem omnis amans Christi festum celebret, diem resurrectionis, regale….” Migne, PG 5, 770. “… Sabbatum, omnis Christi amator Dominicum celebret diem, resurrectionie consecratum Dominiæ, reginam et maximam omnium dierum….”]
181. [“106” sic. 1595. Eusebius places him living about the year 171.]
182. Eusebius, lib. 4. cap. 22. [sic? 23. “Hodie sacrum diem Dominicum celebrauimus.” Cf. Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ, chapter 22 {Paris: 1571} 82; (Coloniæ Agrippinæ: Arnoldi Birckmanni, 1570) 92; in these editions chapters 10 and 11 were combined. The text varies. “Beatam, inquit, duximus hodiernam Dominicam diem” (Opera, tom. 2, book 4, chapter 23 (Petri, 1579) 732). “Hodie, inquit, sacrum diem Dominicum transegimus.” Cf. Migne, PG 20, 390. NPNF2, 1.201.]
183. Justin Martyr, Apolog. 2. [Cf. First Apology, chapter 67. ANF 1, 186.]
184. Tertullian, lib. de Idololatria. [Cf. Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, volume 11, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, vol. 11, The Writings of Tertullian, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1869) 162; ANF 3, 70.]
Cited from Nicholas Bownd, Sabbathum Veteris et Novi Testamenti: or The True Doctrine of the Sabbath (1606; Naphtali Press and Reformation Heritage Books, 2015) p. 115–116.
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And therefore Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, living in the time of this apostle, says of it, Omnis qui Christum amat, “Let every one that loves Christ keep holy the Lord’s Day, renowned by His resurrection, which is the Queen of all days, in which death is overcome, and life is sprung up in Christ.”180 And so after him in other places, it was thus called and kept. For as Eusebius makes mention in his ecclesiastical history, Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, who lived about the year of Christ 166,181 speaks thus, “Hodie, today we have celebrated the Lord’s holy day.”182 And Justin Martyr, not long after him does not only name the Lord’s Day, but shows how it was observed then, even as it is of us, when he says, “That they met in one place to hear the writings of the prophets,” etc.183 And Tertullian after him among the solemn days of the Christians then observed, does first of all name the Lord’s Day.184 Thus we may see that this change was made and approved of the Church from the beginning, and so has continued unto our time.
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180. Ignatius, ad magnes. [Cf. ANF 1, p. 63; cf. William Cureton, Corpus Ignatianum: A Complete Collection of the Ignatian Epistles (Berlin: Asher and Co., 1849) 68. Bownd is possibly citing Chemntiz’s Latin paraphrase from the Greek of the long version of the letter to the Magnesians. “Omnis qui Christum amat, festum celebret dominicam diem, resurrectione insignem, quæ suprema et regina est omnium dirum, in qua mors devicta, et vita nostra exorta est in Christo, quem filii perditionis negant…” (Martin Chemnitz, Examen Concilii Tridentini, De Festis {Berlin, 1861} 911). The long version is now thought to be a later writer’s interpolation of the shorter original. Cf. Sancti Martyris Ignatii, Antiochiæ Archiepiscopi, Epistolæ (Paris, 1558) 17. “… dominicum diem omnis amans Christi festum celebret, diem resurrectionis, regale….” Migne, PG 5, 770. “… Sabbatum, omnis Christi amator Dominicum celebret diem, resurrectionie consecratum Dominiæ, reginam et maximam omnium dierum….”]
181. [“106” sic. 1595. Eusebius places him living about the year 171.]
182. Eusebius, lib. 4. cap. 22. [sic? 23. “Hodie sacrum diem Dominicum celebrauimus.” Cf. Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ, chapter 22 {Paris: 1571} 82; (Coloniæ Agrippinæ: Arnoldi Birckmanni, 1570) 92; in these editions chapters 10 and 11 were combined. The text varies. “Beatam, inquit, duximus hodiernam Dominicam diem” (Opera, tom. 2, book 4, chapter 23 (Petri, 1579) 732). “Hodie, inquit, sacrum diem Dominicum transegimus.” Cf. Migne, PG 20, 390. NPNF2, 1.201.]
183. Justin Martyr, Apolog. 2. [Cf. First Apology, chapter 67. ANF 1, 186.]
184. Tertullian, lib. de Idololatria. [Cf. Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, volume 11, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, vol. 11, The Writings of Tertullian, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1869) 162; ANF 3, 70.]
Cited from Nicholas Bownd, Sabbathum Veteris et Novi Testamenti: or The True Doctrine of the Sabbath (1606; Naphtali Press and Reformation Heritage Books, 2015) p. 115–116.
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