Acts 20:7

This verse is taken as proof that the disciples kept Sunday holy…

 “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” Acts 20:7

According to the Bible, each day begins at sundown and ends at the next sundown (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Leviticus 23:32) and the dark part of the day comes first. So Sabbath begins Friday night at sundown and ends Saturday night at sundown. This meeting of Acts 20 was held on the dark part of Sunday, or on what we now call Saturday night. The New English Bible* begins Acts 20:7 like this: "On the Saturday night in our assembly ..." It was a Saturday-night meeting, and it lasted until midnight. 

Paul was on a farewell tour and knew he would not see these people again before his death (verse 25). No wonder he preached so long! (No regular weekly service would have lasted all night.) Paul was "ready to depart on the morrow." The "breaking of bread" has no "holy day" significance whatever, because they broke bread daily (Acts 2:46). There is not the slightest indication in this Scripture passage that the first day is holy, or that these early Christians considered it so. Nor is there the remotest evidence that the Sabbath had been changed. 

Incidentally, this meeting is probably mentioned in the Scripture only because of the miracle of raising Eutychus back to life after he fell to his death from a third-floor window. In Ezekiel 46:1, God refers to Sunday as one of the six "working days."  

In evaluating this passage as an evidence of early Christian Sunday-keeping, the eminent church historian, Augustus Neander, remarks:

“The Passage is not entirely convincing, because the impending departure of the apostle may have united the little Church in a brotherly parting-meal, on occasion of which the apostle delivered his last address, although there was no particular celebration of a Sunday in the case.” The History of the Christian Religion and Church, tr. Henry John Rose, vol. 1, p. 337.

Comments (2)

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yes
written by enriqueto belauro, March 01, 2010

yes its true..it canot tell that holy sabbath is scratch out...

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sabbath
written by slobo cant tell, July 04, 2009

this article is true,and just because paul preached on sunday doesnt mean he changed to sabbath to sunday,if this was his intenetion he would have made it clear sunday is the new sabbath but its not,preaching could be done on anyday of the week not just on the sabbath.so clearly this verse cannot be used for proof for sunday sabbath.

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