Hi guys,
I am a bit curious about the seven-day week. Who first invented it and who decided which day was Sunday etc? Is there any record of it? Has there been any adjustment in history (like the day-of-year adjustment when we shifted from Julian to Gregorian Calendar)
I guess it has some religious link, so how did people make sure that the sabbath people use today is actually the day of rest ordered by God?
No one knows for sure, but wikipedia has a pretty good history. Wikipedia has a pretty good article on the history of the seven day week.
Keep in mind that there are different calendars out there, and the Hebrew Calendar is not the same as the Gregorian one used in the West.
The seventh day of the (Christian) week is Sunday, also the biblical seventh day of Creation. Since it was on the seventh day God rested after creating the heavens and the earth, it became the Sabbath-- the Lord’s Day.
No the seventh day of the Christian week is Saturday, Sunday is celebrated as the day it is said that Jesus rose from the dead.
Though the seventh day of the week is now Sunday in Samoa at least sort of because they skipped last Friday. I’m actually surprised there wasn’t more religious outrage at this. Though i guess few countries have as strong zealots as we do here in the U.S.
The 7 day week was around before christianity.
I’m not entirely clear on why the Sabbath shifted From Saturday to Sunday as Judaism gave way to Christianity.
The seventh day of the Christian week is Saturday, the Old Testament Sabbath Day. Sunday (traditionally counted as the first day of the Judeo-Christian week) is the “Lord’s Day”. See for example Chapter XXI of the Westminster Confession of Faith (Protestant), or Question 356 of the Baltimore Catechism (Catholic).
Judaism didn’t give way to Christianity. It’s still alive and kicking.
“Gave way”?
I wonder if he’s thinking that most Jews became Christians, when in fact most didn’t. Gentiles became Christians in large numbers, but Jews mostly stayed Jews (and I’m talking here about the early days of Christianity, not those who were forced to convert in the Middle Ages).
I’m not sure if it’s quite what you are looking for, but there’s a thread here about Samoa skipping Friday this week.
Poor choice of words on my part.
Hi guys, thanks for the interesting answers, but maybe I wasn’t very clear about what I was looking for.
For example, today is monday, because yesterday was sunday, because the day before was saturday, etc. How did the sequence begin? And how can the religious people be sure (or how can they convince themselves) that two days ago were really 7*n days after the first day of rest?
How much religious outrage was there when Samoa repeated a day?
Why is that such an outrageous notion?
Random note: Japan (and I assume China) uses a seven day week that seems to have a common pedigree with the western week. In the west we have Sun, Moon, Tyr/Mars, Wotan, Thor, Frey, Saturn is a mix-mash of different cultures’ gods and celestial bodies (admittedly there’s a lot of overlap there). The Japanese week also starts with Sun and Moon (then goes on to various classical elements). That they share these days and their place at the beginning of the week speaks to something very culturally stable going on here, I think.
I was livid.
A real theophany, huh?
It’s important to remember that every religious person alive has been born and raised in an environment where none of this was controversial or novel. They don’t have to convince themselves because they’ve never been confronted with the issue. As for the “first guy to call a monday ‘a monday’”, it’s a good question. It probably goes back to a decree by a leader based on the court astrologer’s reading of the stars. I’d be shocked if the 7 day week chain was unbroken between its origin and now through the various dark ages.