Fundamentalism's flaws

I write this series of articles on the battle between Sabbatarian and Sunday worshipper not to attack anyone, but to reassure Sunday worshippers who are under attack that their position is the righteous one. The fundamental source of the disagreement concerns how the Bible is to be understood, and once Christians can agree among ourselves how sacred scripture is to be interpreted, we will have gone a far way towards Christian unity. The deep rifts within the body of Christ are a scandal, remembering that our founder prayed, "May they all be one, Father, as You and I are one."

I learnt my biblical Greek at the United Theological College of the West Indies under Baptist minister, Dr David Jellyman; he was no fundamentalist, and it was he who first taught me about the flaws in the Greek text (Textus Receptus) from which the King James Version of 1611 was translated. In my column of April 19, I concluded with the following: "This year, English-speaking Christians celebrate 400 years of this remarkable literary work, but except for fundamentalists, no scholars use it for Bible study."

Responding on May 6, communication specialist Martin Henry has managed to agree with me in a most disagreeable manner. He writes: "What the disputing Espeut refrained from telling his readers is that the KJV of 2011 is not, word for word, identical to that of 1611, but has had, literally, hundreds of updates. A monumental and systematic revision was undertaken in the 1970s involving 'over 130 biblical scholars, representing a broad cross section of evangelical Christendom' ... which produced the New King James Version (NKJV)."

Readers, I am sure, have already read Henry's spin. The KJV of 1611 is the only KJV, and reads the same in 2011 as it did in 1611. Recognising the flaws in the KJV, the "broad cross section of evangelical Christendom" in their wisdom produced the NKJV, but the fundamentalist Mr Henry cannot bring himself to say that flaws have been corrected, but spins it as "hundreds of updates". I did not know that evangelicals had the authority to update The Holy Bible, the very Word of God?

An Inconvenient truth

Spin doctor Henry needs to update himself. Thousands upon thousands of Jamaican fundamentalists still use the KJV, despite its well-documented flaws, despite the NKJV, and despite the fact that the Anglican Church, which originally produced the KJV, has abandoned it in favour of the Revised Standard Version (RSV) and now the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Truth is truth, Martin, however inconvenient.

But to conclude the Sabbath-Sunday argument, it is clear from early Christian writings that the apostolic church switched from Sabbath worship to Sunday worship. The Didache ton Dodeka Apostolon, or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, written about 140 AD, reads: "On the Lord's Day ... come together, break bread, and give thanks"; the Greek word for 'to give thanks' is 'eucharistein'.

The First Apology of Justin Martyr, written about 150 AD, reads: "And we all assemble together on Sunday, because it is the first day, on which God, having transformed the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ, our Saviour, rose from the dead the same day; for they crucified him the day before Saturday; and the day after Saturday, which is Sunday, he appeared to his apostles and disciples and taught them these things which we have presented to you for your consideration."

From as early as the first century, Christians adopted Sunday as their day of special worship, replacing the Sabbath, which is the day of special worship of the Jews. Some have asked: "By what authority did the Christian Church adopt the Lord's Day as its day of worship when the Bible (the Old Testament) clearly states that the Sabbath is to be the day of rest?" The same church that compiled and approved the New Testament is the same church that adopted the Lord's Day as its day of worship.

The evangelical thrust of the early Christian Church eventually reached the Imperial Palace, and Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, converted to Christianity. She exposed her son to the Christian faith, and in 313 AD Constantine issued the Edict of Milan legalising Christian worship, and on March 7 in 321 AD Constantine declared Sunday as the official day of rest in his empire, on which markets were banned and public offices were closed.

And so, contrary to Sabbatarian propaganda, Constantine did not change the day of worship from the Sabbath to Sunday, but he made the Lord's Day a public holiday in his empire.

The Rev Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.