Encountering the Rest of God: How Jesus Came to Personify the Sabbath

perplexing aspect of early Christianity is the rapid and widespread abandonment of the practice of rest on Sabbath, as in the Jewish matrix of the Christian movement, even though the seven-day week was retained for time-keeping purposes. It is beyond dispute that this occurred, but there is no unanimity on the question of how and why. There is no passage in the sources which offers an explicit answer. The author uses the classic tools of the historical-critical method, supplemented by newer approaches, for a thorough exegetical examination of the relevant passages in the New Testament and other Christian writings of the time. The investigation demonstrates that previous models to explain the rapid disappearance of the Sabbath as a Christian worship practice have been inadequate. A more nuanced, polycausal model is proposed. This sheds light on unity and diversity in the Christian movement as it began its development from a sect within Judaism to a faith community with its own identity. Henry Sturcke, Dr. theol. , Jahrgang 1948, ist Pfarrer in Muri (Kanton Aargau) und versieht Lehrauftrage an der Hochschule fur Musik und Theater sowie an der Universitat in Zurich.