Note: Today I am going to delve into something a little different than what I normally write. As a result, be forewarned: This column may not be for everybody. My goal is not to try and offend; this is simply my blog and therefore I use it to put things down that happen to be on my mind on any given date. A lot of times when I do so I find that I learn things on my own or discover things that I may not have found out otherwise.
Paradox - Statement or tenet contrary to received opinion; proposition on the face of it (in pop. use, actually) self-contradictory XVI; phenomenon conflicting with preconceived notions XVII. — late L. paradoxum, -doxon, sb. use of n. of paradoxus — Gr. parádoxos, f. para1 + dóxa opinion. Hence paradoxical XVI.
Paradox - Statement or tenet contrary to received opinion; proposition on the face of it (in pop. use, actually) self-contradictory XVI; phenomenon conflicting with preconceived notions XVII. — late L. paradoxum, -doxon, sb. use of n. of paradoxus — Gr. parádoxos, f. para1 + dóxa opinion. Hence paradoxical XVI.
Observe the picture at the top closely and you’ll have a general idea of how perception of an object can be skewered by viewing it from a different angle. This is a prime example of a paradox. Things are looked upon and accepted as they are without a second thought that there could be something else worth considering. In Mississippi-speak – there may be more here than meets the eye, or better yet, still waters run deep.
Exodus 20: “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.”
This commandment is part of the Ten Commandments and there isn’t a way to justify it by any manner of interpretation as not being so. However, the keeping of this commandment has become quite a paradox to me. I keep Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of Saturday, which is the actual Sabbath. I do this because I am a member of a Christian church and it has always been as such. We keep Sunday instead of Saturday because that is the day The Lord rose from the grave. At least that is the way it has been explained to me by those that have taught me and shaped my knowledge of the Bible throughout my life. The Catholic version of the Bible has even re-written this commandment to read ‘Remember the Lord’s Day to keep it holy’. But which day is the ‘Lord’s Day’? Judging from a reading of the qualifiers listed in this commandment, I’m inclined to think that the Sabbath (Saturday), or the day the Lord rested following creation, is the Lord’s Day. I also notice that this commandment precedes the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai – it was put into place during the creation process and God sanctified the Sabbath at that time, not later on.
It has been explained to me that we are no longer under the law, but under grace, and therefore it does not matter. Also, an attempt to keep the law or ‘works’ borders on one becoming a legalist by nature and therefore it is - wrong. However, Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep his commandments. By the same token, we would never as Christians consider it acceptable to kill, steal, commit adultery, etc. as mentioned in the rest of the commandments – whether we are exonerated by grace or not.
A second explanation is that the disciples and the early church met on Sunday in lieu of Saturday as mentioned in the New Testament book of Acts. However, a closer reading shows that more often than not, they met on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is mentioned as being a time they met eight times in Acts, whereas the ‘first day of the week’ is mentioned but once - and then only as a time that they met to share bread. Furthermore, even Jesus kept the Sabbath, not the first day of the week.
There are other things I’ve learned, verses that mention not putting one day above another, and how we should live every day as a Christian and not just one day a week. These sound good, are correct in their own right, and comfort me a little when studying this subject. Maybe not. It seems as though if one commandment out of the ten was going to be made obsolete or no longer valid as one to keep, the Bible would have mentioned it plainly. Like maybe in one of Paul’s letters he could have thrown in a ‘By the way, you guys keep Sunday instead of Saturday because God has changed His mind on that commandment.’ Instead I am reminded by God Himself: “For I am the LORD, I change not;” and “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
I’m not thinking of converting to another religion by any means. But studying this subject gives me pause; and it certainly meets the criteria of a paradox by any definition.
Exodus 20: “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.”
This commandment is part of the Ten Commandments and there isn’t a way to justify it by any manner of interpretation as not being so. However, the keeping of this commandment has become quite a paradox to me. I keep Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of Saturday, which is the actual Sabbath. I do this because I am a member of a Christian church and it has always been as such. We keep Sunday instead of Saturday because that is the day The Lord rose from the grave. At least that is the way it has been explained to me by those that have taught me and shaped my knowledge of the Bible throughout my life. The Catholic version of the Bible has even re-written this commandment to read ‘Remember the Lord’s Day to keep it holy’. But which day is the ‘Lord’s Day’? Judging from a reading of the qualifiers listed in this commandment, I’m inclined to think that the Sabbath (Saturday), or the day the Lord rested following creation, is the Lord’s Day. I also notice that this commandment precedes the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai – it was put into place during the creation process and God sanctified the Sabbath at that time, not later on.
It has been explained to me that we are no longer under the law, but under grace, and therefore it does not matter. Also, an attempt to keep the law or ‘works’ borders on one becoming a legalist by nature and therefore it is - wrong. However, Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep his commandments. By the same token, we would never as Christians consider it acceptable to kill, steal, commit adultery, etc. as mentioned in the rest of the commandments – whether we are exonerated by grace or not.
A second explanation is that the disciples and the early church met on Sunday in lieu of Saturday as mentioned in the New Testament book of Acts. However, a closer reading shows that more often than not, they met on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is mentioned as being a time they met eight times in Acts, whereas the ‘first day of the week’ is mentioned but once - and then only as a time that they met to share bread. Furthermore, even Jesus kept the Sabbath, not the first day of the week.
There are other things I’ve learned, verses that mention not putting one day above another, and how we should live every day as a Christian and not just one day a week. These sound good, are correct in their own right, and comfort me a little when studying this subject. Maybe not. It seems as though if one commandment out of the ten was going to be made obsolete or no longer valid as one to keep, the Bible would have mentioned it plainly. Like maybe in one of Paul’s letters he could have thrown in a ‘By the way, you guys keep Sunday instead of Saturday because God has changed His mind on that commandment.’ Instead I am reminded by God Himself: “For I am the LORD, I change not;” and “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
I’m not thinking of converting to another religion by any means. But studying this subject gives me pause; and it certainly meets the criteria of a paradox by any definition.
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