Who Changed the Sabbath From Saturday to Sunday?

Genesis 2:1–3 and Exodus 20:8–11 identify the seventh day as blessed and set apart. Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 mention the first day but do not explicitly transfer Sabbath holiness. The historical question should be examined after establishing what those passages do and do not say.

The change was not the work of one person on one date. Early Sunday gatherings, resurrection commemoration, separation from Judaism, and changing church practices contributed over time. Civil and ecclesiastical measures later reinforced existing practices.

Constantine’s March 7, 321 civil law prescribed rest for courts and city occupations on Sunday, with an agricultural exception. The law is preserved in the Justinian Code, title 3.12. It strengthened Sunday’s civil standing; it did not invent Christian Sunday observance or constitute a New Testament command.

Later ecclesiastical regulations further encouraged Sunday observance. The Council of Laodicea’s canon 29 is relevant to this development. Historical evidence must distinguish a council’s regional regulation from a universal, instantaneous change.

Romans 6 connects baptism with Christ’s death and resurrection without commanding a change of Sabbath day. This reading connects Daniel 7:25 with claims to alter divine times and law, but that is an interpretation. Millions of sincere Sunday worshipers should not be condemned for their tradition.