Book review of Judging the Sabbath : discovering what can't be found in Colossians 2:16

P. Gerard Damsteegt, Andrews University

Abstract

Colossians 2:16 has been interpreted by the vast majority of scholars as evidence thatthe seventh-day Sabbath has been abolished and is no longer a day Christians need toobserve. Sabbatarians, however, see this text as referring to the Old Testamentceremonial sabbaths that Christians are no more obliged to keep — not to the seventhday Sabbath. The author of Judging the Sabbath critically analyzes the “anti-Sabbatarianapologetics.” (viii) He supports his conclusions through an extensive analysis of theterms ”festival,” “new moon,” and “sabbath” with helpful diagrams. Four extensiveappendices provide a wealth of data from his research, again arranged in diagrams. Anindex of authors and texts concludes the book.