Perspectives on the Sabbath: Four Views

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Skip MacCarty (Andrews University) defends the “Seventh-day” view which argues the fourth commandment is a moral law of God requiring us to keep the seventh day–Saturday–holy. Adherents readily assert that Christians, like Jews, are bound to practice the Sabbath only on this day.

Jospeh A Pipa (Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary) argues in favor of the “Christian Sabbath” view which holds the resurrection of Christ is the basis for the day of rest, and that the Christian Sabbath ought to coincide with that event as a weekly celebration of it. Thus, the Sabbath is to be held on the first day of the week, not the last.

Craig L. Blomberg (Denver Seminary) supports what is known as the “Fulfillment” asserting that only in Christ has the true Sabbath rest come into the present and that on this basis the Sabbath as constituted in the commands of the Old Testament are no longer binding on believers.

Charles P. Arand (Concordia Seminary) upholds the “Lutheran” view that the Sabbath commandment was given only as an act of Law and therefore does not concern Christians. Rest and worship are required, but they are not tied to a particular day or to particular forms of celebration.

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