A Brief History of Sunday from the New Testament to the New Creation

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

9-24-2017

Keywords

Sunday, Sabbath, Constantine, Puritanism

Abstract

"I personally think this book succeeds in providing a renewed justification for Sunday worship in a world that has become highly secularized and where Christians are fast losing the historical and theological reasons for many of their practices. In this brief history, González wishes that Sunday worship in Christian churches would return to emphasizing the three basic values it had in early Christianity (a memorial of the first day of creation and of the day of Jesus’s resurrection, pointing to the beginning of a new creation, and as the eighth day of the week anticipating the consummation of all things), and subtly points out that attempts at making Sunday a restricted day of rest are a later development, and that mainly in English-speaking countries, where a Reformed tradition was firmly implanted. For González, this understanding of Sunday lacks valid historical connections to the early church. Overall, I believe this book provides a good summary of many arguments and ideas regarding the Christian observance of the Sabbath and Lord’s Day as days of worship and rest, and what exactly is the intended historical and theological meaning of each."

Journal Title

Reading Religion

Book Title

A Brief History of Sunday from the New Testament to the New Creation

Editor

Gonzalez, Justo L., author

Publisher

Eerdmans

City

Grand Rapids, MI

ISBN

9780802874719

First Department

Theology and Christian Philosophy

Link to Full Text

@ the James White Library

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