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Sacred Time: The Sabbath as a Perpetual Covenant
How does a person live the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy in a world that is vastly different from the commandment’s original context with Moses on Mount Sinai? Chapters in this volume explore the Sabbath throughout time, from both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the post–New Testament Christian Church during the second through the fourth centuries, the rabbinic teachings, and modern efforts to keep the Sabbath relevant, including the Restoration and other Christian and Jewish efforts.
- GenresReligion
376 pages, Hardcover
Published May 15, 2023
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January 28, 2024
There were some helpful thoughts and reminders here about the importance of the Sabbath day, its history and purpose and ways we can show our love for the Lord and His day. Here are some favorite quotes:
"Sacred time is different from the other 'times' that compete for our attention... It is a time to create and strengthen our vertical connections with God (p. v)."
"At its heart the Sabbath is meant to help people connect with God by strengthening their covenantal relationship with him and rejoicing in that relationship (p. ix)."
"Every Latter-day Saint who engages in a temple dedication reenacts one of the earliest events of all creation (p. 5)."
"'Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God!' (p. 11)"
"Sacred time is still experienced today, as in the past, through commemorations and celebrations on specific days that are dedicated to God and thus regarded as holy. These days punctuate the passing of ordinary or common time and are intended to help bring focus and clarity to relationships with the divine (p. 25)."
"The Sabbath was observed from the time of Adam and Eve onwards (p. 29)."
"The very fact that Jehovah gave the Sabbath commandment, the fourth of the ten, as part of the Decalogue signals its gravity in the Israelites' relationship with him (and in our relationship with him as well) (p. 30)."
"At the very least, violation of the Sabbath demonstrated a disrespect for one's promises to and relationship with God on a larger scale (p. 33)."
"The question... was how the Jews were to maintain the Sabbath in their pluralistic society (p. 63)."
"A second purpose for Sabbath gatherings was to participate in liturgical, or communal, prayers (p. 71)."
"The praising of God in this liturgy was a time for the angels, and by extension the community, to rejoice in and give thanks to their God. Their focus on praising God and giving thanks is consistent with the opening to the biblical Psalm 92, which is introduced as 'a Psalm or Song for the sabbath day' (p. 73)."
"With a sense of the value of the Sabbath day and the importance of honoring it, we peer into these records hoping both to understand more of those ancient people's experience and to find messages that resonate with our lives (p. 83)."
"'The rest and rejoicing symbolized by the sabbath find fulfillment in the kingdom brought by Jesus' (Donald Hagner, p. 92)."
"From the Jews of that era we can learn the importance of being faithful and keeping the commandments as we have them. Covenant faithfulness, specifically with respect to keeping the Sabbath, is a 'sign' between us and God (p. 97)."
"We can recognize the importance of other people and their needs as we think about what we choose to do on the Sabbath (p. 97)."
"The principle of mercy that informed Jesus's actions did not become a new rule replacing the need for the Sabbath and its boundaries... In finding our way through the complexities of living a faithful life, we can develop or adopt a range of principles that enable us to live up to our ideals (p. 98)."
"This holy day should instead be used for the work of salvation and redemption (p. 105)."
"In John sin is primarily a function of failing to believe, Jesus's admonition that the man 'stop sinning' is actually a call for him to leave his unbelief and instead place his trust in Jesus (p. 110)."
"'Eternal life is already a present reality for those who believe in Jesus' (p. 113)."
"Christian beliefs and practices surrounding the Sabbath were influenced by Christianity's relationship with Judaism (p. 124)."
"True Israel observed not the Sabbath but the Lord's day (p. 126)."
"For... many early Christians, Sunday worship was a time to gather as one, to listen to inspired messages, and to partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper (p. 132)."
"The question of how a person lives the commandment is at the heart of all rabbinic discussion about the keeping and living of the Sabbath (p. 153)."
"The sages understood and kept their Sabbath as a joy (p. 155)."
"They identify thirty-nine primary categories of work or labor, the performance of any of which qualifies as breaking the Sabbath day (p. 159)."
"Dealing with the sometimes-messy world in which we live is part and parcel with trying to live the Sabbath day the way the scriptures indicate (p. 163)."
"We can recognize that there are more ways than one to live and keep the commandments. We can articulate the logic behind why we interpret the commandments the way we do. We can also exercise our agency to become the kind of people the Lord wants us to be without needing to be commanded in all things (p. 165)."
"How should believers feel about the Sabbath day? What are the benefits of Sabbath-day worship? Why is the Sabbath day theologically significant? What activities are appropriate for the Sabbath? How do believers make the Sabbath day holy (p. 172)?"
"The law was designed to grant believers leisure time for worship in an economically hard-pressed society that easily distracted people's minds away from God (p. 173)."
"Luther believed that the word of God was 'the sanctuary above all sanctuaries' and that it was 'the treasure which sanctifies everything' (p. 175)."
"Gathering in church on Sundays provided an essential learning environment because he knew that 'God's word cannot be heard or taught when one is preoccupied with something else or when one is not quiet' (p. 175)."
"'The world without a Sabbath would be like a man without a smile, like a summer without flowers, and like a homestead without a garden. It's the joyous day of the whole week' (Henry Ward Beecher, p. 193)."
"Jonathan Edwards... referred to the Christian Sabbath as the 'grace and blessing' of Christ, 'one of the most precious enjoyments of the visible church,' the one day in seven especially marked for joy, and the one day of the week to remember the resurrection and redemption of the Son of God (p. 193)."
"From the beginning the sacrament lay at the heart of Sabbath day devotions in the early restored Church... If the day of the week was less important to the Saints than the spirit of worship, so too were the tokens or emblems of the sacrament of less importance than the covenants of the sacrament (p. 196)."
"Lacking formality and erudite sermonizing, Latter-day Saint Sabbath meetings were more democratic and less aristocratic in nature than those typical of the times and were characterized by enthusiastic but untrained missionaries eager to spontaneously share recent soul-stirring experiences and testimonials (p. 199)."
"As important as Sundays were to the early Saints, church attendance was not the only way to keep the Sabbath holy. Attending church was more an expectation than it was a commandment--a healthy, spiritual expectation but not the only measure of Christian devotion (p. 200)."
"The Saints also looked upon praying for, blessing, and visiting one another as appropriate Sabbath observances (p. 201)."
"The sacrament has been a main feature of Latter-day Saint worship since the earliest days of the Restoration (p. 208)."
"Women contributed to the sacrament in important ways from the early Restoration period into the twentieth century (p. 213)."
"The sacrament continues to carry the potential to unify (p. 230)."
"The commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy is as ancient as the earth itself, dating back to the creation of the world, when after six days of labor the Lord rested from his work (p. 243)."
"Brigham Young saw the commandment to hallow the Sabbath day as a part of the new and everlasting covenant revealed by our Father in Heaven in this dispensation, and other apostles and prophets agreed (p. 245)."
"President Joseph Fielding Smith was very clear that the Saints should not believe that the commandment to keep the Sabbath day had been done away with in Christ (p. 249)."
"'Pioneers did not have to worry about specific counsel regarding shopping, attending sports, or going to the theatre on Sunday, but they did have a lot of work to do in order to survive in a new land, especially with regard to the planting of crops (p. 251)."
"Keeping the Sabbath requires more than sacrificing worldly pleasures (p. 252)."
"'We should be active and in service, but Sabbath-day work should be directly the service of God and not the secular and wage-earning service of man' (James E. Talmage, p. 257)."
"'Partaking of the sacrament is basic for our observance of the Lord's day' (L. Tom Perry, p. 258)."
"'The wards and branches of the Church offer a weekly gathering of respite and renewal, a time and place to leave the world behind--the Sabbath. It is a day to 'delight thyself in the Lord,' to experience the spiritual healing that comes with the sacrament, and to receive the renewed promise of His Spirit to be with us' (D. Todd Christofferson, p. 259)."
"In 1991, Elder James E. Faust made a very clear demarcation that Sabbath-day doings were no longer going to be defined by official counsel from General Authorities. That responsibility was now clearly under the jurisdiction of each Latter-day Saint (p. 259)."
"'For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, honoring the Sabbath is a form of righteousness that will bless and strengthen families, connect us with our Creator, and increase happiness. The Sabbath can help separate us from that which is frivolous, inappropriate, or immoral. It allows us to be in the world but not of the world' (Quentin L. Cook, p. 260)."
"As Latter-day Saints embrace Sabbath-day counsel that emphasizes inner strength, spirituality, and faith rather than temporal rules, Sabbath worship will become a delight and a sign of each Latter-day Saint's devotion (p. 263)."
"The Sabbath day has been at the center of recent Latter-day Saint reforms and institutional adjustments geared toward improving Sabbath observance (p. 267)."
"Roth suggested that in our search for the divine, we act on the Sabbath in a way to see ourselves 'among the work of his hands'--a work that pushed God to rest after the sixth creative period (P. 273)."
"Prayer is deeply ingrained in the ritualization of the Sabbath (p. 283)."
"'The possibility of praying in all contexts internally opens one up to a kind of meditative engagement with the divine will in the Orthodox tradition, made possible through the unique encounter with Jesus' (p. 287)."
"The Sabbath day can continue to be a source of strength if we intentionally learn to remember it, postpone work, and seek holiness in everyday life (p. 289)."
"'By virtue of our citizenship in heaven, we are pilgrims and strangers on the earth. On the Lord's Day, our transactions should be almost exclusively with the heavenly country to which we belong. As we engage in the joys of worship for one whole day in seven, we will live in this world, bringing something foreign into everything we do. If heaven consists primarily of communion with God, then to the extent that we enjoy communion with God on earth, we have already begun to enjoy the glories of heaven. On the Sabbath day, God has commanded us to spend the whole day in heaven, so to speak' (p. 307)."
"Sacred time is different from the other 'times' that compete for our attention... It is a time to create and strengthen our vertical connections with God (p. v)."
"At its heart the Sabbath is meant to help people connect with God by strengthening their covenantal relationship with him and rejoicing in that relationship (p. ix)."
"Every Latter-day Saint who engages in a temple dedication reenacts one of the earliest events of all creation (p. 5)."
"'Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God!' (p. 11)"
"Sacred time is still experienced today, as in the past, through commemorations and celebrations on specific days that are dedicated to God and thus regarded as holy. These days punctuate the passing of ordinary or common time and are intended to help bring focus and clarity to relationships with the divine (p. 25)."
"The Sabbath was observed from the time of Adam and Eve onwards (p. 29)."
"The very fact that Jehovah gave the Sabbath commandment, the fourth of the ten, as part of the Decalogue signals its gravity in the Israelites' relationship with him (and in our relationship with him as well) (p. 30)."
"At the very least, violation of the Sabbath demonstrated a disrespect for one's promises to and relationship with God on a larger scale (p. 33)."
"The question... was how the Jews were to maintain the Sabbath in their pluralistic society (p. 63)."
"A second purpose for Sabbath gatherings was to participate in liturgical, or communal, prayers (p. 71)."
"The praising of God in this liturgy was a time for the angels, and by extension the community, to rejoice in and give thanks to their God. Their focus on praising God and giving thanks is consistent with the opening to the biblical Psalm 92, which is introduced as 'a Psalm or Song for the sabbath day' (p. 73)."
"With a sense of the value of the Sabbath day and the importance of honoring it, we peer into these records hoping both to understand more of those ancient people's experience and to find messages that resonate with our lives (p. 83)."
"'The rest and rejoicing symbolized by the sabbath find fulfillment in the kingdom brought by Jesus' (Donald Hagner, p. 92)."
"From the Jews of that era we can learn the importance of being faithful and keeping the commandments as we have them. Covenant faithfulness, specifically with respect to keeping the Sabbath, is a 'sign' between us and God (p. 97)."
"We can recognize the importance of other people and their needs as we think about what we choose to do on the Sabbath (p. 97)."
"The principle of mercy that informed Jesus's actions did not become a new rule replacing the need for the Sabbath and its boundaries... In finding our way through the complexities of living a faithful life, we can develop or adopt a range of principles that enable us to live up to our ideals (p. 98)."
"This holy day should instead be used for the work of salvation and redemption (p. 105)."
"In John sin is primarily a function of failing to believe, Jesus's admonition that the man 'stop sinning' is actually a call for him to leave his unbelief and instead place his trust in Jesus (p. 110)."
"'Eternal life is already a present reality for those who believe in Jesus' (p. 113)."
"Christian beliefs and practices surrounding the Sabbath were influenced by Christianity's relationship with Judaism (p. 124)."
"True Israel observed not the Sabbath but the Lord's day (p. 126)."
"For... many early Christians, Sunday worship was a time to gather as one, to listen to inspired messages, and to partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper (p. 132)."
"The question of how a person lives the commandment is at the heart of all rabbinic discussion about the keeping and living of the Sabbath (p. 153)."
"The sages understood and kept their Sabbath as a joy (p. 155)."
"They identify thirty-nine primary categories of work or labor, the performance of any of which qualifies as breaking the Sabbath day (p. 159)."
"Dealing with the sometimes-messy world in which we live is part and parcel with trying to live the Sabbath day the way the scriptures indicate (p. 163)."
"We can recognize that there are more ways than one to live and keep the commandments. We can articulate the logic behind why we interpret the commandments the way we do. We can also exercise our agency to become the kind of people the Lord wants us to be without needing to be commanded in all things (p. 165)."
"How should believers feel about the Sabbath day? What are the benefits of Sabbath-day worship? Why is the Sabbath day theologically significant? What activities are appropriate for the Sabbath? How do believers make the Sabbath day holy (p. 172)?"
"The law was designed to grant believers leisure time for worship in an economically hard-pressed society that easily distracted people's minds away from God (p. 173)."
"Luther believed that the word of God was 'the sanctuary above all sanctuaries' and that it was 'the treasure which sanctifies everything' (p. 175)."
"Gathering in church on Sundays provided an essential learning environment because he knew that 'God's word cannot be heard or taught when one is preoccupied with something else or when one is not quiet' (p. 175)."
"'The world without a Sabbath would be like a man without a smile, like a summer without flowers, and like a homestead without a garden. It's the joyous day of the whole week' (Henry Ward Beecher, p. 193)."
"Jonathan Edwards... referred to the Christian Sabbath as the 'grace and blessing' of Christ, 'one of the most precious enjoyments of the visible church,' the one day in seven especially marked for joy, and the one day of the week to remember the resurrection and redemption of the Son of God (p. 193)."
"From the beginning the sacrament lay at the heart of Sabbath day devotions in the early restored Church... If the day of the week was less important to the Saints than the spirit of worship, so too were the tokens or emblems of the sacrament of less importance than the covenants of the sacrament (p. 196)."
"Lacking formality and erudite sermonizing, Latter-day Saint Sabbath meetings were more democratic and less aristocratic in nature than those typical of the times and were characterized by enthusiastic but untrained missionaries eager to spontaneously share recent soul-stirring experiences and testimonials (p. 199)."
"As important as Sundays were to the early Saints, church attendance was not the only way to keep the Sabbath holy. Attending church was more an expectation than it was a commandment--a healthy, spiritual expectation but not the only measure of Christian devotion (p. 200)."
"The Saints also looked upon praying for, blessing, and visiting one another as appropriate Sabbath observances (p. 201)."
"The sacrament has been a main feature of Latter-day Saint worship since the earliest days of the Restoration (p. 208)."
"Women contributed to the sacrament in important ways from the early Restoration period into the twentieth century (p. 213)."
"The sacrament continues to carry the potential to unify (p. 230)."
"The commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy is as ancient as the earth itself, dating back to the creation of the world, when after six days of labor the Lord rested from his work (p. 243)."
"Brigham Young saw the commandment to hallow the Sabbath day as a part of the new and everlasting covenant revealed by our Father in Heaven in this dispensation, and other apostles and prophets agreed (p. 245)."
"President Joseph Fielding Smith was very clear that the Saints should not believe that the commandment to keep the Sabbath day had been done away with in Christ (p. 249)."
"'Pioneers did not have to worry about specific counsel regarding shopping, attending sports, or going to the theatre on Sunday, but they did have a lot of work to do in order to survive in a new land, especially with regard to the planting of crops (p. 251)."
"Keeping the Sabbath requires more than sacrificing worldly pleasures (p. 252)."
"'We should be active and in service, but Sabbath-day work should be directly the service of God and not the secular and wage-earning service of man' (James E. Talmage, p. 257)."
"'Partaking of the sacrament is basic for our observance of the Lord's day' (L. Tom Perry, p. 258)."
"'The wards and branches of the Church offer a weekly gathering of respite and renewal, a time and place to leave the world behind--the Sabbath. It is a day to 'delight thyself in the Lord,' to experience the spiritual healing that comes with the sacrament, and to receive the renewed promise of His Spirit to be with us' (D. Todd Christofferson, p. 259)."
"In 1991, Elder James E. Faust made a very clear demarcation that Sabbath-day doings were no longer going to be defined by official counsel from General Authorities. That responsibility was now clearly under the jurisdiction of each Latter-day Saint (p. 259)."
"'For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, honoring the Sabbath is a form of righteousness that will bless and strengthen families, connect us with our Creator, and increase happiness. The Sabbath can help separate us from that which is frivolous, inappropriate, or immoral. It allows us to be in the world but not of the world' (Quentin L. Cook, p. 260)."
"As Latter-day Saints embrace Sabbath-day counsel that emphasizes inner strength, spirituality, and faith rather than temporal rules, Sabbath worship will become a delight and a sign of each Latter-day Saint's devotion (p. 263)."
"The Sabbath day has been at the center of recent Latter-day Saint reforms and institutional adjustments geared toward improving Sabbath observance (p. 267)."
"Roth suggested that in our search for the divine, we act on the Sabbath in a way to see ourselves 'among the work of his hands'--a work that pushed God to rest after the sixth creative period (P. 273)."
"Prayer is deeply ingrained in the ritualization of the Sabbath (p. 283)."
"'The possibility of praying in all contexts internally opens one up to a kind of meditative engagement with the divine will in the Orthodox tradition, made possible through the unique encounter with Jesus' (p. 287)."
"The Sabbath day can continue to be a source of strength if we intentionally learn to remember it, postpone work, and seek holiness in everyday life (p. 289)."
"'By virtue of our citizenship in heaven, we are pilgrims and strangers on the earth. On the Lord's Day, our transactions should be almost exclusively with the heavenly country to which we belong. As we engage in the joys of worship for one whole day in seven, we will live in this world, bringing something foreign into everything we do. If heaven consists primarily of communion with God, then to the extent that we enjoy communion with God on earth, we have already begun to enjoy the glories of heaven. On the Sabbath day, God has commanded us to spend the whole day in heaven, so to speak' (p. 307)."
March 6, 2024
I read this book to help improve my understanding and observance of the Sabbath day. I also loved the title, identifying the Sabbath as both sacred time and a perpetual covenant with God. This is a collection of essays on the Sabbath day commandment and observance throughout time—from the Old and New Testament, the early Christian church, the Restoration, and modern efforts in a variety of Christian and Jewish traditions. It is an insightful (always positive) and very scholarly (sometimes a negative for me) book. I appreciated learning how other faiths honor and keep the Sabbath day holy. I also liked the essay that reflected on what is lost when the Sabbath, and sacred time generally, exits the world in favor of work, sports, shopping, and leisure activities. Overall, the book encourages utilizing the Sabbath as a sign of our relationship with God, filled with doing good (Mark 3:4) and spiritual reflection and renewal. I believe the Sabbath is a gift and hope to better use this gift in a way that reflects my devotion to God and sanctifies me. I will include my favorite quotes (including my very favorite one first) below:
Quotes:
-***Favorite quote from book - “If a man spent one-seventh of his life in a foreign culture, eventually aspects of the culture would become indistinguishable from his own customs, clothing, speech, and thoughts. He could not return to his own country without weaving something foreign into all he said and did. We ought to regard the Sabbath in this manner. By virtue of our citizenship in heaven, we are pilgrims and strangers on the earth. On the Lord’s Day, our transactions should be almost exclusively with the heavenly country to which we belong. As we engage in the joys of worship for one whole day in seven, we will live in this world, bringing something ‘foreign’ into everything we do. If heaven consists of primarily of communion with God, then to the extent that we enjoy communion with God on earth, we have already begin to enjoy the glories of heaven.” p. 307 -McGraw “Day of Worship”
-“If [the Sabbath] be the day on which God requires us especially to seek him, we may argue, that it is a day on which especially he [God] will be found.” p. ix --Jonathan Edwards, American philosophical theologian
-“When we understand the Sabbath as a liminal, dedicatory event, it can become a time of personal commitment in which we are blessed and sanctified before reentering the common time and space of the world.” p. 16
-“As we keep or maintain its holiness, it has the power to help us become holy.” p. 31
-“Humans properly observing the Sabbath are paralleling God and the pattern he established, with six days of creative activity followed by a day for ceasing work, resting and finding spiritual refreshment. God’s designating a holy day says something about his nature, since holiness is a divine attribute. And our keeping the Sabbath day holy says something about our desire to accept his invitation to develop this attribute of holiness in ourselves. In this way, sanctifying the Sabbath is part of our imitation of God, but it also become a way to find God’s presence.” p. 46
- “It was their love for the Sabbath which led them to exert all their ingenuity in discovering ways of differentiating it from other days and making it more thoroughly a day of rest, a day in which man enjoys some foretaste of the pure bliss and happiness which are stored up for the righteous in the world to come.” -Chief Rabbi Hertz of the UK p. 157
-Our longing from Home - “When we have a yearning and don’t know what it is for, perhaps it’s our soul longing for its heartland, longing to be no longer alienated from the Lord and the pursuit of something higher, better, and more fulfilling than anything this earth has to offer.” -Elder Marvin Ashton p. 272
Quotes:
-***Favorite quote from book - “If a man spent one-seventh of his life in a foreign culture, eventually aspects of the culture would become indistinguishable from his own customs, clothing, speech, and thoughts. He could not return to his own country without weaving something foreign into all he said and did. We ought to regard the Sabbath in this manner. By virtue of our citizenship in heaven, we are pilgrims and strangers on the earth. On the Lord’s Day, our transactions should be almost exclusively with the heavenly country to which we belong. As we engage in the joys of worship for one whole day in seven, we will live in this world, bringing something ‘foreign’ into everything we do. If heaven consists of primarily of communion with God, then to the extent that we enjoy communion with God on earth, we have already begin to enjoy the glories of heaven.” p. 307 -McGraw “Day of Worship”
-“If [the Sabbath] be the day on which God requires us especially to seek him, we may argue, that it is a day on which especially he [God] will be found.” p. ix --Jonathan Edwards, American philosophical theologian
-“When we understand the Sabbath as a liminal, dedicatory event, it can become a time of personal commitment in which we are blessed and sanctified before reentering the common time and space of the world.” p. 16
-“As we keep or maintain its holiness, it has the power to help us become holy.” p. 31
-“Humans properly observing the Sabbath are paralleling God and the pattern he established, with six days of creative activity followed by a day for ceasing work, resting and finding spiritual refreshment. God’s designating a holy day says something about his nature, since holiness is a divine attribute. And our keeping the Sabbath day holy says something about our desire to accept his invitation to develop this attribute of holiness in ourselves. In this way, sanctifying the Sabbath is part of our imitation of God, but it also become a way to find God’s presence.” p. 46
- “It was their love for the Sabbath which led them to exert all their ingenuity in discovering ways of differentiating it from other days and making it more thoroughly a day of rest, a day in which man enjoys some foretaste of the pure bliss and happiness which are stored up for the righteous in the world to come.” -Chief Rabbi Hertz of the UK p. 157
-Our longing from Home - “When we have a yearning and don’t know what it is for, perhaps it’s our soul longing for its heartland, longing to be no longer alienated from the Lord and the pursuit of something higher, better, and more fulfilling than anything this earth has to offer.” -Elder Marvin Ashton p. 272
July 16, 2023
Libby. This was a book with articles on the Sabbath. Started back in the 1400 and before. Many were informative all had good material. Most I skimmed through. The book had a lot of information about many different religions and their practices Old and New Testament Time up to today. It is sad what has Happened to our Lords Holy Day. We need to be better examples and help others to see the need of a Sacred Relationship With The Lord. Especially on his Sacred day
September 14, 2023
Good Comprehensive Book
Good comprehensive book about the sabbath day. It consists of essays about the sabbath. History, importance, history of the sacrament etc. If you are looking for interesting facts and motivation, this book is for you.
Good comprehensive book about the sabbath day. It consists of essays about the sabbath. History, importance, history of the sacrament etc. If you are looking for interesting facts and motivation, this book is for you.
June 4, 2024
It took me a minute to finish this book haha. It was really good, but very academic and hard to digest a lot at once.
June 19, 2025
5 stars on the knowledge learned. I just wished the chapters flowed together rather than just being a compilation of academic articles.
December 22, 2024
Consisting of chapters written by different academics, this book attempts to summarize Sabbath observance over time, beginning with the Creation and ending with contemporary Latter-Day Saint observance (or decline of observance).
With many different authors and subjects, the tone is a little uneven throughout the book. Additionally, it is unclear who the target audience for such a book is (academics or laypeople). Several chapters are thick with academic jargon while others take the time to explain the significance of well-known individuals within early Christianity.
A highlight of the book is a chapter on changes to Sabbath and sacrament meeting observance within the Latter-Day Saint faith tradition. Readers will be interested to learn of a congregation in southern Utah which tended their own vineyard in order to produce wine for their sacrament services (Chapter 10). The footnotes of this chapter are particularly enlightening.
With many different authors and subjects, the tone is a little uneven throughout the book. Additionally, it is unclear who the target audience for such a book is (academics or laypeople). Several chapters are thick with academic jargon while others take the time to explain the significance of well-known individuals within early Christianity.
A highlight of the book is a chapter on changes to Sabbath and sacrament meeting observance within the Latter-Day Saint faith tradition. Readers will be interested to learn of a congregation in southern Utah which tended their own vineyard in order to produce wine for their sacrament services (Chapter 10). The footnotes of this chapter are particularly enlightening.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews