Sabbath

==Christianity==
{{Main article|Sabbath in Christianity}}
{{See also|Gregorian calendar}}
In [[Eastern Christianity]], the Sabbath is considered still to be on [[Saturday]], the seventh day, in remembrance of the Hebrew Sabbath. In [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] and most branches of Protestantism, the "[[Lord's Day]]" (Greek Κυριακή) is considered to be on Sunday, the first day (and "eighth day"). Communal worship, including the Holy Mysteries, may take place on any day, but a weekly observance of the resurrection is made consistently on Sunday. [[Western Christianity]] sometimes refers to the Lord's Day as a "Christian Sabbath", distinct from the Hebrew Sabbath, but related in varying manner.

[[Subbotniks]] (literally, Sabbatarians) are a Russian sect, categorized [[Judaizers|Judaizing]] Christians, which became particularly branded by strict ''Shabbat'' observance.

===First-day===
{{details|Puritan Sabbath}}
Since [[Puritan]] times, most English-speaking [[Protestant]]s identify the "[[Lord's Day]]" (viz., Sunday) with a "[[Sunday Sabbath|Christian Sabbath]]", a term [[Roman Catholic]]s in those areas may also celebrate with the [[Eucharist]]. It is considered both the first day and the "eighth day" of the seven-day week. In [[Tonga]], all commerce and entertainment activities cease on Sunday, starting at midnight and ending the next day, at midnight, as Tonga's constitution declares the Sabbath sacred forever.<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of Tonga |url=https://www.parliament.gov.to/parliamentary-business/documents/constitution-of-tonga/file/115-constitution-of-tonga-revised-1988 |website=Parliament of Tonga |access-date=20 August 2018}}</ref> In [[Oriental Orthodoxy]], the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] has observed both Sunday Resurrection Day and [[Saturday Sabbath]] in different ways for several centuries, as have other [[Eastern Orthodox]] traditions.

[[Puritan]] Sabbatarianism or [[Reformed church|Reformed]] Sabbatarianism is strict observance of [[Sabbath in Christianity]] that is typically characterized by its avoidance of [[leisure|recreational]] activities. "Puritan Sabbath", expressed in the ''[[Westminster Confession of Faith]]'', is often contrasted with "[[Continental Europe|Continental]] Sabbath": the latter follows the Continental [[Reformed Christian confessions of faith|Reformed confessions]] such as the ''[[Heidelberg Catechism]]'', which emphasize rest and [[worship]] on [[Lord's Day]], but do not forbid recreational activities.

===Seventh-day===
{{Main article|Sabbath in seventh-day churches|List of Sabbath-keeping churches}}
Several Christian denominations observe Sabbath in a similar manner to Judaism, though with observance ending at Saturday sunset instead of Saturday nightfall. Early church historians [[Sozomen]] and [[Socrates of Constantinople|Socrates]] cite the seventh day as the Christian day of worship except for the Christians in Rome and Alexandria. Many Sabbatarian Judeo-Christian groups were attested during the Middle Ages. The [[Waldensians]], a religious group founded during the 12th century, are regarded as one of the first Post-Constantinian Christian groups to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. The [[Szekler Sabbatarians]] were founded in 1588 from among the [[Unitarian Church of Transylvania]] and maintained a presence until the group converted to Judaism in the 1870s. [[Seventh Day Baptist]]s have observed Sabbath on Saturday since the mid-17th century (either from sundown or from midnight), and influenced the (now more numerous) [[Seventh-day Adventists]] in America to begin the practice in the mid-19th century. They believe that keeping [[seventh-day Sabbath]] is a moral responsibility equal to that of any of the other [[Ten Commandments]], based on the example of [[Jesus]]. They also use "Lord's Day" to mean the seventh day, based on Scriptures in which God calls the day "my Sabbath" ({{Bibleverse||Exodus|31:13|KJV}}) and "to the {{LORD}}" ({{Bibleverse||Exodus|16:23|KJV}}) and in which Jesus calls himself "Lord of Sabbath" ({{Bibleverse||Matthew|12:8|KJV}}). The question of defining Sabbath worldwide on a round earth was resolved by some [[seventh-day Sabbatarian]]s by making use of the [[International Date Line]] (i.e., permitting local rest-day adjustment, {{Bibleverse||Esther|9:16–19|KJV}}), while others (such as some [[Alaska]]n Sabbatarians) keep Sabbath according to [[Jerusalem]] time (i.e., rejecting manmade temporal customs, {{Bibleverse||Daniel|7:25|KJV}}). Adherents of [[Messianic Judaism]] (a Christian sect or grouping of sects), also generally observe the Sabbath on Saturdays.

Many of the [[Lemba people|Lemba]] in [[southern Africa]], like some other African tribes, are Jewish and claim [[African Jews|common descent]] from the Biblical [[Israelites]], based on observing traditional Jewish customs. Genetic analysis has also demonstrated that a distinct group of the Lemba, have the oral history and genetic ancestry of early Hebrews. The Lemba keep one day a week holy like Sabbath, and maintain many beliefs and practices associated with Judaism.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/African-tribe-descended-from-Jews-DNA-tests-show|title = African tribe descended from Jews, DNA tests show}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Mark G. |last2=Parfitt |first2=Tudor |last3=Weiss |first3=Deborah A. |last4=Skorecki |first4=Karl |last5=Wilson |first5=James F. |last6=le Roux |first6=Magdel |last7=Bradman |first7=Neil |last8=Goldstein |first8=David B. |title=Y Chromosomes Traveling South: The Cohen Modal Haplotype and the Origins of the Lemba—the 'Black Jews of Southern Africa' |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |date=2000 |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=674–686 |doi=10.1086/302749 |pmid=10677325 |pmc=1288118}}</ref>

===Seventh-day versus First-day===
{{Main article|Sabbath in Christianity|Sabbath in seventh-day churches}}

In 321 AD, Roman emperor [[Constantine the Great]] enacted the first civil law regarding Sunday observance. The law did not mention the Sabbath by name, but referred to a day of rest on "the venerable day of the sun."
{{quote|On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrate and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however, persons engaged in agricultural work may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain growing or for vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.<ref>Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, vol. III, chap. 75.</ref>}}

===New moon===
{{See also|New moon}}
The new moon, occurring every 29 or 30 days, is an important separately sanctioned occasion in Judaism and some other faiths. It is not widely regarded as Sabbath, but some [[Hebrew Roots|messianic]] and [[Pentecostal]] churches,{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} keep the day of the new moon as Sabbath or rest day, from evening to evening. New-moon services can last all day.

Some modern sects who are Sabbath keepers have suggested a Sabbath based on the New Moon{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} citing [https://biblehub.com/psalms/104-19.htm Psalm 104:19] and [https://biblehub.com/genesis/1-14.htm Genesis 1:14] as a key [[prooftext]]s. Observers recognize the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th days of the month of the Hebrew Calendar as Sabbath days which should be observed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldslastchance.com/wlc-challenge.html|title=The WLC Sabbath Challenge|website=Bible Prophecy {{!}} Online Bible Studies {{!}} Videos {{!}} WLC|access-date=2018-09-04}}</ref> They reject the 7 day week as non-biblical.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} The Lunar Sabbath theory is rejected by most Sabbatarian groups and Judaism as false and misleading but the recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls translated by Eisenman and Wise show the Essene Jewish calendar revealing the first sabbath of the month of Nisan being on the 4th day 3 days after the new moon and kept every 7 days for the rest of the year. While some of the writings at the Dead Sea sect or Qumran state the 4th day, other writings such as HaYubilim XLIV:1 or The Jubilees 44:1  mention the seventh day of the 3rd moon a sacrifice takes place and Yaakob stays seven days later because travel in not permitted on Shabbat. Philo of Alexandria also mentions in Decalogue XXX (161) But to the seventh day of the week he has assigned [the beginning of] the greatest festivals, those of the longest duration [Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles], at the periods of the equinox both vernal and autumnal in each year; appointing two festivals for these two epochs, each lasting seven days; the one which takes place in the spring being for the perfection of what is being sown, and the one which falls in autumn being a feast of thanksgiving for the bringing home of all the fruits which the trees have produced. And seven days have very appropriately been appointed to the seventh month of each equinox, so that each month might receive an especial honour of one sacred day of festival, for the purpose of refreshing and cheering the mind with its holiday.

===Day of the Vow===
{{Main article|Day of the Vow}}
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}
Day of the Vow or [[Dingane]]'s Day ([[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]] ''Geloftedag'' or ''Dingaansdag'', December 16) was the name of a religious public holiday in [[South Africa]] commemorating a famous [[Boer]] victory over the [[Zulu people|Zulu]]. Celebrated as annual Sabbath (a holy day of thanksgiving) since 1838, it was renamed [[Day of Reconciliation]] in 1994. The anniversary and its commemoration are intimately connected with various streams of [[Afrikaner]] and South African nationalism.

===Millennial Sabbath===
{{Main article|Millennial Day Theory}}
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}
Since [[Hippolytus of Rome]] in the early third century, Christians have often considered that some thousand-year Sabbath, expected to begin six thousand years after Creation, might be identical with the [[millennialism|millennium]] described in the [[Book of Revelation]]. This view was also popular among 19th- and 20th-century [[dispensationalism|dispensational]] [[premillennialist]]s. The term "Sabbatism" or "Sabbatizing" (Greek ''Sabbatismos''), which generically means any literal or spiritual Sabbath-keeping, has also been taken in {{Bibleverse||Hebrews|4:9|KJV}} to have special reference to this definition.

===Spiritual Sabbath===
{{Religious text primary|section|date=December 2020}}
Some modern Christians uphold Sabbath principles but do not limit observance to either Saturday or Sunday, instead advocating rest on any one chosen day of the week as following the spirit of Sabbath, or advocating Sabbath as instead a symbolic metaphor for rest in Christ. These look upon Sabbath as a principle to be observed in spirit rather than in letter, regarding the rest offered in [[Jesus]] as the only New Testament admonishment containing the root word of "Sabbath" ({{Bibleverse||Matthew|11:28|KJV}}) and sometimes as a more permanent rest than a day could fulfill ({{Bibleverse||Hebrews|4:9|KJV}}).

===Latter Day Saint Movement===
In 1831, [[Joseph Smith]] published a revelation commanding his related movement, the [[Latter Day Saint movement]], to go to the house of prayer, offer up their sacraments, rest from their labors, and pay their devotions on the Lord's day (D&C 59:9–12).
{{quote|That thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High.|D&C 59:9–10<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/59.9-11?lang=eng The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]</ref>}}

Latter-day Saints believe this means performing no labor that would keep them from giving their full attention to spiritual matters (Ex. 20:10). LDS prophets have described this as meaning they should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events, or participate in similar activities on that day.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} Elder [[Spencer W. Kimball]] wrote in his ''[[The Miracle of Forgiveness]]'' that mere idle lounging on the Sabbath does not keep the day holy, and that it calls for constructive thoughts and acts.<ref>''[[The Miracle of Forgiveness]]'', pp.&nbsp;96–97</ref>

Members of the Church are encouraged to prepare their meals with "singleness of heart" on the Sabbath<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/59?lang=eng churchofjesuschrist.org D&C 59:13]</ref> (D&C 59:13) and believe the day is only for righteous activities (Is. 58:13.) In most areas of the world, this means worship on Sunday, though there is adaptation for Israel and many majority-Muslim countries.<ref>[https://www.ldsliving.com/18-Unique-LDS-Traditions-from-Around-the-World/s/88061 – Attending church on Friday]</ref><ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/sabbath-day?lang=eng churchofjesuschrist.org – Study by Topic – Sabbath]</ref>

In harmony with this revelation, members of the LDS church attend [[sacrament meeting]] each week. Other Sabbath-day activities may include: praying, meditating, studying the scriptures and the teachings of latter-day prophets, writing letters to family members and friends, reading wholesome material, visiting the sick and distressed, and attending other Church meetings.<ref>True to the Faith, p. 146 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/36863_eng.pdf{{full citation needed|date=February 2017}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2021}}