Lord's Day
Template:Wikify-date The "Lord's Day", is an expression that has different meanings for those who profess Christianity.
For many, it is the first day of the week, is a day for rest, to place God above all. H. H. Halley: "The Lord's Day: Sunday; the Lord himself, so ordained it, for the church to assemble a congregation of the people; which is a fair measure of the people's interest in their church, and in Christ".
Although some 19th century scholars suggested that Ignatius of Antioch was the first known Christian writer to advocate replacing the "Sabbath" with the "Lord's Day", this is based on an out-of-context mistranslation of what he actually wrote. The term day is neither in, nor required by, the context.
An in-context translation of Ignatius' writings, beginning with verse 8.1 would be:
- "8.1 Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless.
- "8.2 For if even unto this day we live according to the manner of Judaic concepts, we admit that we have not received grace: for the godly prophets lived after Christ Jesus. For this cause also they were persecuted, being inspired by His grace to the end that they which are disobedient might be fully persuaded that there is one God who manifested Himself through Jesus Christ His Son, who is His Word that proceeded from silence, who in all things was well-pleasing unto Him that sent Him.
- "9.1 If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer keeping sabbaths Judaically, but in accordance with the Lord's way of life, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny – a mystery whereby we attained unto belief, and for this cause we endure patiently, that we may be found disciples of Jesus Christ our only teacher –
- "9.2 if this be so, how shall we be able to live apart from Him? Seeing that even the prophets, being His disciples, were expecting Him as their teacher through the Spirit. And for this cause He whom they rightly awaited, when He came, raised them from the dead." — Translated from the original Greek, which was found in Holmes M. Ignatius. Letter to the Magnesians. Holmes, pp. 158.
Note: that although the expression Judaically is not in the surviving text, the original koine Greek demands that Ignatius was referring to the ancient prophets, who were not following non-biblical, Judaic, practices in the prior verses, as they properly knew how to keep the Sabbath as Isaiah 58:13-14 proves.
Others consider that the "Lord's Day" is the seventh day Sabbath. Those that do that tend to point out this statement in the Book of Mark 2:28 which states “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath", while Matthew 12:8 words it, “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath".
The only time a Greek expression is specifically translated as Lord's Day in most versions of the Bible is in the Book of Revelation 1:10--a few scholars translate it as the "Day of the Lord". Some scholars consider that this is a reference to the "Day of the Lord" as no day of the week is suggested by the text. This is consistent with the context of the Book of Revelation and other biblical occurrences on the "Day of the Lord".