Refuting the Seventh-day Adventist Misuse of Socrates Scholasticus’ Statement on Sabbath Observance

In discussions about early Christian worship, one passage is often quoted by Sabbatarian groups, including Seventh-day Adventists, to argue that the majority of early Christians supposedly kept the Sabbath well into the fourth and fifth centuries. The statement comes from Socrates Scholasticus, a fifth-century church historian. Here’s what he wrote:

“For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.” (Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, Chapter 22)

At first glance, this seems like a powerful statement supporting widespread Sabbath observance. But when examined carefully and within context, it doesn’t say what the SDAs claim. Let’s unpack this, point by point.

1. The “Sacred Mysteries” Means the Lord’s Supper, Not Legal Sabbath-Keeping

The phrase “celebrate the sacred mysteries” refers to the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper, not to keeping the Sabbath law of rest and abstinence from labor. In the early centuries of Christianity, some congregations gathered on Saturdays to partake of the Lord’s Supper, while many others, especially in major apostolic centers like Rome and Alexandria, had already moved this observance to Sunday, in honor of the resurrection.

This is a vital distinction because Socrates Scholasticus was reporting liturgical customs, not doctrinal obligations or law-keeping. Holding a Eucharist service on a Saturday doesn’t equate to observing the Sabbath commandment as it was given to Israel under the Mosaic Covenant.

As Socrates himself says elsewhere in the same chapter, there were various customs regarding when people met, some churches assembling both on Saturday and Sunday. It reflects local practice, not the binding authority of Sabbath law.

2. The Example of Rome and Alexandria Carries Theological Weight

Interestingly, the two cities Socrates names as having ceased Saturday gatherings were Rome and Alexandria — the most authoritative and doctrinally significant churches of the ancient Christian world. Rome, being the church traditionally founded by Peter and Paul, and Alexandria, one of the leading intellectual and theological centers of early Christianity.

If these two apostolic churches had long ago ceased Sabbath gatherings “on account of ancient tradition,” this indicates that the shift away from Sabbath customs was not a fourth-century innovation, as Adventist mythology often claims. Instead, it was an apostolic-era practice grounded in the belief that the resurrection of Christ marked a new covenant order, with Sunday — the Lord’s Day — becoming the central day of Christian worship.

3. The Broader Patristic Evidence Contradicts Sabbatarian Claims

Far from upholding Sabbath law, the early church fathers consistently rejected legal Sabbath-keeping. 

For example:

Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 AD) wrote:

“If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope… no longer observing Sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord’s Day, on which also our life rose through Him.” (Letter to the Magnesians 9)

Justin Martyr (c. 150 AD) stated:

“We all hold our common assembly on the day of the sun… because it is the day on which Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.” (First Apology 67)

The Didache (c. 80-100 AD), one of the earliest Christian manuals, instructs:

“But every Lord’s day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving.” (Didache 14:1)

These and numerous other witnesses confirm that Sunday worship, not Sabbath observance, was the normative practice for Christians from the apostolic age onward.

4. Liturgical Diversity Was Normal in the Early Church — Legalism Was Not

It’s important to understand that the early church allowed for local diversity in worship practices without viewing them as law. Some churches gathered on Saturday evenings or Sunday mornings. Some continued meeting on Saturdays for practical or transitional reasons, especially in heavily Jewish regions. But none of these assemblies were framed as legal Sabbath-keeping.

Paul’s teaching in Colossians 2:16-17 makes it clear:

"Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ." Colossians 2:16-17 (CSB)

The very fact that churches exercised freedom about meeting days shows that the Sabbath law was not binding on Christians.

Final Thought

In conclusion, the misuse of Socrates Scholasticus’ statement by Sabbatarian apologists ignores the historical, theological, and contextual realities of early Christian worship. Socrates was simply describing regional customs in Eucharist observance, not prescribing Sabbath-keeping as a law. The consistent testimony of early church history affirms that Christians worshiped on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, in joyful celebration of Christ’s resurrection, freed from the ceremonial shadows of the Old Covenant.

To use Socrates Scholasticus to prop up Sabbatarianism is not only poor exegesis but poor history.