Page "Sabbath in Christianity" Paragraph 18

According to Bauckham, the reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin repudiated the idea that Christians are bound to obey the Mosaic law, including the fourth commandment of the Decalogue concerning Sabbath, although they followed Aquinas's concept of natural law.

They viewed Sunday rest as a civic institution established by human authority, which provided an occasion for bodily rest and public worship.

In his work against the Antinomians, Luther rejected the idea that he had taught the abolition of the Ten Commandments.

Another Protestant Reformer, John Wesley, stated " This ' handwriting of ordinances ' our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to His cross.

( Colossians 2: 14.

) But the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He did not take away ....

The moral law stands on an entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual law .... Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages.