The commandment to rest on the Sabbath was changed by the Christian Bible

Pleasantries Thank you Truth_Seeker for taking me up on this debate. You've been my best friend on DDO for some time now. Having judged each others debates for so long, it is exciting to have our first debate against each other. Clarification I didn't say anything about salvation. Salvation seems out of place in this debate. The Law of Moses, specifically in the Ten Commandments, teaches us not to steal. We both agree that stealing is included in the Law of Moses and that according to the Bible, stealing is wrong. We both agree that keeping the Sabbath is part of the Law of Moses, and listed in the Ten Commandments, but we disagree that the Bible teaches us to keep the Sabbath. It is not a question of salvation, but of right and wrong as taught by the Bible. Opening Arguments Obviously, the Tanahk (Old Testament) teaches to keep the Sabbath. If the Sabbath was abolished, one would expect the authors of the Brit HaDasha (New Testament) to say so. Outside the Tanahk (Old Testament), no direct commandments are given with regards to the Sabbath. It is not explicitly stated that the Sabbath no long needs to be kept. What we do see in the Bible is the apostles and their disciples keeping the Sabbath. When Rabbi Sha'ul (Apostle Paul) arrives in Jerusalem in Acts 21, he is told there are a number of converts to Christianity who are all very zealous for keeping the Law of Moses who have heard rumors that he's teaching Jewish people not to keep the Law of Moses. The leaders recommend a course of action to dispel the rumors and to show the community that he still keeps the Law of Moses too; Rabbi Sha'ul (Apostle Paul) complied. If taken to be true, this is proof that he not only taught the Jewish people to keep the Law of Moses, but he kept the Law of Moses himself. Although there are approximately 85 examples of keeping the Sabbath in the book of Acts (including Jews and Greeks), I will only name 2: Acts 17:2 and Acts 13:14. These two show that it was his practice to attend Sabbath meetings in the synagogues. Acts 17 establishes it as his custom. Acts 13 establishes that he went to attend, not just to preach. Although there is no examples of the Sabbath being dismissed by the Christian scriptures, we do see examples of other laws being dismissed. For example, priestly law, including animal sacrifices, is proclaimed to be no longer needed (Hebrews 10), even though the law was still in effect. We see examples of the Kosher (dietary) laws being done away with (Mark 7, Acts 10, Romans 14). As this is a topic we agree on (although I keep Kosher myself for religious reasons) I will not present the rebuttal given by those who insist on teaching Kosher. It is explicitly stated that circumcision is no longer important in the Christian scriptures (Romans 2:29, Galatians 2:3). So, we see examples of many laws being explicitly fulfilled. The Sabbath is not one of them. Furthermore, the Sabbath is given in the Ten Commandments. Of the Ten Commandments, the commandment regarding the Sabbath is the only commandment claimed by Christians to no longer be in effect. We see no examples in the Christian scriptures of anyone not keeping the Sabbath. We do see plenty of examples of those who did keep the Sabbath. For example, we read in Acts 20 about Rabbi Sha'ul (Apostle Paul) teaching a sermon until midnight of the first day of the week. Because days were counted at sundown, midnight on the first day of the week occurs Saturday night before Sunday morning. This was and is a common Jewish practice called havdalah [1]. The point of a havdalah service is to observe the passing of the Sabbath, to emphasize the difference between the Sabbath and the rest of the week. Havdalah is a tradition so ancient, its origin is unknown [2]. It was well established by the time the Christian scriptures were written. Given that Rabbi Sha'ul (Apostle Paul) kept the Jewish tradition so carefully, there is little doubt he was not celebrating havdalah the night recorded in Acts 20. To those who read Acts 20, I'd like to point out that havdalah is observed after Sabbath ends at sundown on Saturday night. So, the first day of the week begins Saturday night at sundown. Havdalah, then, is observed on the first day of the week, which is Saturday night. I should also point out that the events in Acts 20 took place in North-West Asia [3]. "Macedonian and Roman colony." We have no indication that the local believers were all Jewish. It is reasonable to believe that Greeks were present in that service. To be extra clear, Rabbi Sha'ul (Apostle Paul) was leading a ceremony that distinguished between the sacredness of the Sabbath and mundane rest of the week. In fact, the Hebrew word havdalah literally means "separation" [4]. Conclusion We see several laws being declared as unimportant by the Christian scriptures. The Sabbath is not one of them. In contrast, we see the sacredness of the Sabbath being observed by Jews and Greeks. 1) http://www.jewfaq.org... 2) http://www.tifereth-israel.org... 3) http://jhom.com... 4) www.bible-history.com/links.php?cat=40&sub=705&cat_name=Bible+Cities&subcat_name=Troas