Quick-Start Guide to Sabbath Keeping

AbstractThough the Christian observance of Sabbath-keeping has been inconsistent throughout history, the concept has become popular in devotional literature. This paper argues that because of three characteristics of Sabbath-keeping—an altered, theocentric perspective, a slower, simpler style of living, and an eschatological encounter—it may be a useful "tool" for more environmentally sensitive modes of living. Observing the Sabbath reminds Christians to view Creation as God did while resting on the seventh day in Genesis; it prompts a simplification that often has environmentally salutary effects in its lessened consumption; and it draws Christians into a shared vision of a redeemed, healed creation. The paper draws on insights from Jürgen Moltmann, Abraham Joshua Heschel, John Paul II, Seventh-day Adventists and Sabbath Economics thinkers (including Wendell Berry, Marva J. Dawn, Ched Myers, Norman Wirzba, and Richard Lowery).

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Discipline and Diversity in the Medieval English Sunday

Studies in Church History ◽

10.1017/s0424208400003211 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 202-211

Author(s):

Diana Wood

Keyword(s):

Canon Law ◽

Popular Literature ◽

Late Medieval ◽

The Third ◽

Medieval Church ◽

The Law ◽

Parish Churches ◽

Recent Attention ◽

Sabbath Keeping

The medieval Church had strict disciplinary rules about how Sunday should be observed, but in England there was considerable diversity in interpreting and honouring them. The medieval English Sunday is a vast and challenging subject, yet despite this, and the controversy excited by the Sunday Trading Act of 1994 which allowed shops to open, it has excited little recent attention.The discipline of Sunday was laid down in the Third Commandment (Exod. 20: 8–11), where Christians were ordered to keep holy the Sabbath day and told ‘In it thou shalt not do any work.’ This was reinforced in canon law, in episcopal mandates, in commentaries, in theological treatises, in sermons, inpastoralia, and in popular literature. The Sunday Christ, the image of Christ surrounded by craftsmen’s tools, which enshrined the idea that Sunday working with such implements crucified him anew, adorned the walls of many late medieval English parish churches. Secular rulers, starting with Wihtred of Kent (695), included Sabbath-keeping in their legislation. Diversity occurred in the varying interpretations of the law on Sunday observance, and in the patchiness of its enforcement. The questions to be addressed here are, firstly, what actually constituted Sunday? Secondly, what were people supposed to do on Sundays, and did they do it? Finally, how well observed was the work prohibition as applied to Sunday trading?

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Changes in Sabbath-Keeping and Mental Health Over Time: Evaluation Findings From the Sabbath Living Study

Journal of Psychology and Theology ◽

10.1177/00916471211046227 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 009164712110462

Author(s):

Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell ◽

Beth Stringfield ◽

Jia Yao ◽

Jessica Choi ◽

David Eagle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Personal Accomplishment ◽

Control Group ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Work Related ◽

Spiritual Well Being ◽

Over Time ◽

Sabbath Keeping

Work-related stress is experienced at a high level in the United States. Clergy are particularly likely to over-extend themselves to act on their sacred call. Sabbath-keeping may offer a practice that is beneficial for mental health, yet many Protestant clergy do not keep a regular Sabbath. We examined whether United Methodist clergy who attended informative Sabbath-keeping workshops reported changes in spiritual well-being and mental health post-workshop. Compared to baseline, at 3 and 9 months post-workshop, participants reported an increase in Sabbath-keeping. In adjusted random effects and Poisson models, compared to not changing Sabbath-keeping frequency, increasing Sabbath-keeping was related to only one outcome: greater feelings of personal accomplishment at work. Decreasing Sabbath-keeping was related to worse anxiety symptoms, lower spiritual well-being in ministry scores, and a higher probability of having less than flourishing mental health. For four outcomes, there were no significant associations with changes in Sabbath-keeping over time. Although lacking a control group, this study adds to cross-sectional Sabbath-keeping studies by correlating changes in Sabbath-keeping with changes in mental health outcomes over time.

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Time for Solidarity: Liturgical Time in Disaster Capitalism

Religions ◽

10.3390/rel12050332 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 332

Author(s):

Mark Roosien

Keyword(s):

Human Life ◽

Natural World ◽

Collective Modes ◽

Human Beings ◽

Social Fragmentation ◽

Environmental Destruction ◽

The Past ◽

Experience Of Time ◽

Disaster Capitalism ◽

Sabbath Keeping

This article identifies the upheaval of many people’s experience of time during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a larger phenomenon of the 24/7 temporality that can be seen to contribute to the environmental destruction and social fragmentation typical of disaster capitalism. It then proposes liturgical temporality as an alternative to 24/7 temporality, framing it as a fitting context for the cultivation of solidarity between human beings and between human beings and the natural world. It argues that modern Jewish and Christian theologies of Sabbath-keeping as a mode of liturgical and ethical praxis have articulated a liberative vision for shared liturgical temporality but have not paid sufficient attention to concrete, collective modes of liturgical time keeping that could contend with the all-encompassing reality of 24/7 life. It concludes by discussing three ways that a more robust spirituality and praxis of liturgical time could support the cultivation of solidarity: a sense of the present that is mindful of the past and future, the invitation of practitioners into a shared story, and meaningful repetition toward the appropriation of a vision of redemption and liberation for human and non-human life.

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Sabbath-keeping in the Bible from the perspective of biblical spirituality

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v77i2.6755 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 77 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Pieter G.R. De Villiers ◽

George Marchinkowski

Keyword(s):

Biblical Studies ◽

Spiritual Practice ◽

Faith Communities ◽

Spiritual Practices ◽

Hebrew Scriptures ◽

The Bible ◽

Decisive Importance ◽

Contemporary Context ◽

Sabbath Keeping

This article responds to the renewed interest in the spiritual practice of Sabbath-keeping by investigating its nature and meaning in the Judeo-Christian traditions. After briefly analysing the reasons for the contemporary neglect of Sabbath-keeping and indications of its renaissance, this article will analyse biblical pronouncements about the Sabbath, mainly from Hebrew Scriptures, but with brief attention to Christian Scriptures that provide various insights of decisive importance to understand and explain its prominent place for faith communities, but that are vitally important for reinvigorating Sabbath-keeping in a contemporary context. It analyses pronouncements in the Bible in Genesis 2:1–3 that highlights the Sabbath as joyful resting; the need for Sabbath-keeping as commandment in Exodus 20:9–11 and in Deuteronomy 5:12–15, and, finally Sabbath-keeping as trust in God as the provider in Exodus 16:1–30. Various spiritual insights and implications of these passages will be discussed. The article assumes historical critical insights as developed in biblical studies but develops a theological analysis that explains the spiritual dynamics in these texts. These spiritual insights explain the prominence of Sabbath-keeping in the Bible and its practice in the Judeo-Christian religious discourse.Contribution: This article contributes to scholarship on spiritual practices, by analysing the nature and meaning of Sabbath-keeping in Genesis 2:1–3, Exodus 20:9–11; Deuteronomy 5:12–15 and Exodus 16:1–30, stressing their spiritual dynamics in terms of joyful resting, as commandment, as trust in divine provision and as a reflection of their covenantal nature.

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The feasibility of Sabbath‐keeping in the Caribbean hospitality industry

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management ◽

10.1108/09596110310470230 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 172-175 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Eritha Huntley ◽

Carol Barnes‐Reid

Keyword(s):

Hospitality Industry ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Hospitality Management ◽

Religious Tolerance ◽

The Caribbean ◽

The Law ◽

Sabbath Keeping

This article addresses religious tolerance for Sabbath‐keepers in the hospitality industry. The authors approach this issue by assessing the perception of managers in the Jamaican tourism industry on this topic. A major finding was that managers are reluctant to employ persons who have a strong desire to observe the Sabbath. The researchers also discovered that the law does not provide specific provisions to protect the rights of Sabbath‐keepers. Managers are, however, willing to make arrangements to facilitate these individuals whenever possible. This augurs well for students of hospitality management who desire to observe the Sabbath. More research on this topic is needed since this study is by no means exhaustive.

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Sabbath Keeping and Sunday Observance as Spiritual Practice

STJ | Stellenbosch Theological Journal ◽

10.17570/stj.2020.v6n2.a8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 175-200

Author(s):

Pieter Gideon Retief De Villiers ◽

George Marchinkowski

Keyword(s):

Positive Impact ◽

Past History ◽

Spiritual Practice ◽

Faith Communities ◽

Spiritual Journey ◽

Essential Dimension ◽

Divine Presence ◽

Human Relationships ◽

Spiritual Nature ◽

Sabbath Keeping

This article investigates recent interest in the spiritual practice of Sabbath keeping in the light of its history in Judaism and Christianity. It will focus, firstly, on the spiritual nature of Sabbath keeping in Biblical texts and its reception in Judeo-Christian traditions. It will spell out comprehensive, multifaceted approaches to Sabbath keeping and Sunday observance in these traditions and how dynamically these approaches were developed in terms of later contexts. The article will then analyse the positive impact of this spiritual practice on human relationships, but more importantly, its role in creating awareness of the divine presence which represents its most essential dimension. This will reveal how transformative Sabbath keeping as a spiritual practice can be in the spiritual journey, even and also in contemporary contexts. The aim of the article is to investigate insights that spirituality authors can gain from past history in order to meaningfully respond to challenges in their own context and to empower them to counter the serious consequences for the spiritual health of those who are victims of a consumerist culture. The article is by necessity merely an overview, without in-depth discussion of the detail of Sabbath in various historical phases. Important is a general trend that reflects the ebb and flow of Sabbath keeping in the course of history, its tenacity as a spiritual practice and its deeper meaning in the life of faith communities.

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