Why Do People Attend Church on Sunday?

One of the most familiar sites in the Western World is a church full of worshipers on a quiet Sunday morning. It is a sight so familiar that very few people ever stop to think about why Christians go to church on Sundays instead of any other day of the week. But what are the origins of Sunday worship?

Origins of the Sabbath

While most religions refer to the day they worship as "The Sabbath," the word sabbath actually means the seventh day of the week. In the book of Genesis it says that God created the world during the first six days of the week, and rested on the seventh, or quite literally on the sabbath. To this day members of the Jewish religion worship on Saturday.

Christianity

Christian tradition holds that Christ was crucified on a Friday and resurrected on a Sunday. Three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke specifically refer to the Apostles, and other disciples, visiting the tomb of Jesus on "the first day of the week" and discovering it empty. Since the resurrection of Jesus Christ is considered the most important aspect of Christianity, early Christians began to meet on Sundays in order to mark the day of resurrection. Gradually Sundays became the traditional day of rest for the new religion. As such, it is sometimes referred to as the "Christian Sabbath" in order to differentiate it from the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday.

The origins of the Christian Sabbath are very simply explained, but also fascinating. It is a history lesson that many people in this day and age no longer remember.