Sabbatarians

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sabbatarianism. Strict observance of the sabbath (Hebrew shabath—to rest) as a rest-day in accordance with the fourth commandment ‘Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy’. Christians transferred commemoration from the traditional seventh day to Sunday to honour Christ's resurrection—by worship rather than absence of work. Nevertheless Constantine decreed limits of Sunday work (321). Sabbatarianism was uniquely enforced by 17th-cent. English and Scottish presbyterians, especially in the Interregnum. For puritans sabbath-keeping had to be total. Puritan magistrates' inflexible enforcement led James I to issue his book of sports (1618, reissued in 1633), allowing sabbath participation in morris-dancing, maypole, and rush-bearing. Vehemently opposed as ‘iniquity established by law’, this prompted many to emigrate to America. Eighteenth-cent. church courts were still hearing cases of sabbath-breaking by work, ‘tippling’, or games. The evangelical revival made sabbatarianism fashionable, so that on a Victorian Sunday there was no sport or pleasure, not even reading of serious secular literature. In the 20th cent. there was progressive relaxation until by the 1990s Sunday trading was freely allowed.

Revd Dr William M. Marshall

Sabbatarianism. Excessive strictness in the observance of the Divinely ordained day of rest. Although there is evidence of a similar rigidity in the observance of Saturday among the Anabaptists of E. Europe in the 16th cent., the strict observance of Sunday is a peculiar development of the English and Scottish Reformation, unknown on the Continent. Its origins are connected with the publication of N. Bound's True Doctrine of the Sabbath (1595), which advocated strict enforcement on OT lines. The ensuing controversy assumed political importance when James I issued his ‘Book of Sports’ (1618), allowing various sports on Sunday. When this was reissued by Charles I in 1633, it aroused a storm of protest. The Puritan Sabbath was imposed by various Acts of Parliament, but somewhat relaxed at the Restoration. Under the influence of the Evangelical Revival rigorism reappeared at the end of the 18th cent.; the Lord's Day Observance Act, drawn up by Bp. B. Porteus in 1781, forbade the opening on Sunday of places of entertainment or debate to which admission was gained by payment. Relaxation has been progressive since the latter part of the 19th cent. See also SUNDAY.

sabbatarianism Strict observance of the sabbath (Hebrew shabath—to rest) as a rest‐day in accordance with the fourth commandment ‘Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy’. Sabbatarianism was uniquely enforced by 17th‐cent. English and Scottish presbyterians, especially in the Interregnum. The evangelical revival made sabbatarianism fashionable, so that on a Victorian Sunday there was no sport or pleasure, not even reading of serious secular literature. In the 20th cent. there was progressive relaxation until Sunday trading was freely allowed.

Sabbatarians persons who insist upon strict observance of Sunday as the Sabbath . Societies promoting Sabbatarian objectives include the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States and the Lord's Day Observance Society in England. In the United States, Sabbatarian laws, known as blue laws, which bar certain business and sporting activities on Sunday, are still effective in many states and localities. The term is also applied to those who observe the seventh day (Saturday) as the Sabbath, such as certain Adventists and the Seventh-Day Baptists .

Sabbatarianism Religious doctrine of certain Protestants that Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, should be observed as a holy day of rest. Sabbatarianism began in Britain during the Puritan interregnum (1649–60). After the Sunday Entertainments Act of 1932, which empowered local authorities to license Sunday entertainment, Sabbatarianism lost much of its force in England, but remained strong in parts of Scotland and Wales.

Sabbatarian pert. to the observance of the Sabbath (Saturday); sb. observer of the Lord's Day as a Sabbath (7th day of the week). XVII. f. late L. sabbatārius Jew, f. sabbatum; see next, -ARIAN.

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