Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World

by A.J. Swoboda

To be candid, my own marriage may not have survived had it not been for our Sabbath commitment, which has helped us rethink boundaries with the world and each other and even helped us cultivate intimacy. Sabbath is a gift to marriages. But one would not learn this by reading many of the Puritans who came to America. Many of their writings reflect a strict prohibition of sexual contact on the Sabbath. To “sanctify” a Sabbath, one must not kiss, fondle, or make love. There is one particular minister in Massachusetts who refused to baptize babies who were born on the Sabbath, being well aware that if they were born on the Sabbath, they probably were conceived on the Sabbath. His policy continued until the minister’s wife delivered a set of twins—on the Sabbath.17 Some Christian traditions, sadly, have offered a tepid view of the connection between the Sabbath and sex. The Council of Rouen in Gaul (650 CE) articulated the belief that sex on the day before the Sabbath was prohibited. If a married couple had sex the night before the Sabbath, they were not allowed at the Lord’s Table.18 Harsh, indeed.