Born Free!
Liberty? How Long?

Resources for further study

THE ETHIOPIAN CHURCH AND THE SABBATH

Until rather recent years the Coptic Church of Ethiopia observed the seventh-day Sabbath. the Ethiopians also kept Sunday, the first day of the week, throughout their history as a Christian people. These days were marked by special services in the churches. The observance of the seventh-day Sabbath has, however, virtually ceased in modern Ethiopia.

For eyewitness accounts of religious days in Ethiopia, see:

• Pero Gomes de Teixeira, The Discovery of Abyssinia by the Portuguese in 1520 (translated in English in London: British Museum, 1938), p. 79;
• Father Francisco Alverez, Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia During the Years 1520-1527, in the Records of the Hakluyt Society (London, 1881), vol. 64, pp. 22-49;
• Michael Russell, Nubia and Abyssinia (quoting Father Lobo, Catholic missionary in Ethiopia in 1622) (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1837), pp. 226-229;
• S. Giacomo Baratti, Late Travels Into the Remote Countries of Abyssinia (London: Benjamin Billingsley, 1670), pp. 134-137;
• Job Ludolphus, A New History for Ethiopia (London: S. Smith, 1682), pp. 234-357;
• Samuel Gobat, Journal of Three Years' Residence in Abyssinia (New York: ed. of 1850), pp. 55-58, 83-98.

For other works touching upon the question, see:

• Peter Heylyn, History of the Sabbath, 2d ed., 1636, vol. 2, pp. 198-200;
• Arthur P. Stanley, Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1882), lecture 1, par. 1;
• C. F. Rey, Romance of the Portuguese in Abyssinia (London: F. H. and G. Witherley, 1929), pp. 59, 253-297.

Links for further study:

• A discussion of church history sources.
• Historical review of the life of Pope Pius IX (from the Catholic Encyclopedia)
• Text of "Quanta Cura," the Papal encylical of Dec. 8, 1864 (note topic 3 in this encyclical letter)
• "The Syllabus of Errors" by Pope Pius IX - 1864
• "Marari Vos," the Papal (Gregory XVI) encyclical of August 15, 1832 mentioning "liberty of conscience"
• background information regarding Our Country by Josiah Strong
• The Sabbath kept in Abyssinia in 15th Century--a fascinating eyewitness account by a Jesuit missionary-Father Lobo (see chapter 4, paragraph 7)
• Downloadable zip file containing The Church History of Ethiopia by Michael Geddes There are several other items of interest on this web site.
• History of the Sabbath by Peter Heylyn, second edition, revised 1636. An account of the Sunday law of the Emperor Constantine -- see pages 198-200 (page numbers are embedded in the text). Heylyn is generally opposed to the Sabbath.
• History of the Sabbath by J.N. Andrews. Andrews is a proponent of the Sabbath.