SCTR 19

Critical Thinking Exercise:

Report on Information and on Sources
November 5, 2008

Sabbath in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Butler, George L. The Change of the Sabbath: Was it by divine or human authority? Nashville, TN: Southern Association,
1904.
Butler writes about the how the there has been a change in the day of Sabbath; it also examines the authority it has on
Christians. His thesis is about how the observance of Sabbath has changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day
of the week and who brought this change. The author also gives information to the origins of Sabbath and how and who
changed the Sabbath. B. develops supports his thesis in many ways. He uses a great amount of scriptural passages from
the Bible to prove his point but also cites information from other sources such as book by other researchers. I was convinced
by his argument about how and who brought the change to the day of the Sabbath because B. backed his sources with
many passages from the Bible. B. gave a detailed description of his views and then backed with a passage. This article will
be helpful to me because this article focuses on the views of Roman Catholics. I would use this article to compare and
contrast the views Orthodox Jews and Roman Catholics have on what day they should celebrate Sabbath. The article also
discusses the views that other Christians have about how the day of Sabbath came about.

Esposito, John L. "FAITH AND PRACTICE." In What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam. Oxford Islamic Studies Online.
05-Nov-2008. <http://0-www.oxfordislamicstudies.com.sculib.scu.edu/article/book/islam-9780195157130/islam-
9780195157130-div1-23>.
Esposito examines the view of Juma or a day of worship in Islam. His thesis is that Muslims have a Sabbath like Jews and
Christians. E. doesn’t do a great job backing up his thesis. He uses facts and uses hardly any scriptural evidence. I was not
convinced by Esposito’s claims because it is not clear if he is saying that Muslims have a Sabbath like Jew and Christians or
do not. The article is general and does not cover any general group it might not be as helpful as the other articles I have. I
will have to find another article that will provide me with details is Sunnis have a Sabbath like Jews and Christians and if so
how is it similar and different.

Horowitz, Elliott. "Fourth and Long: Presenting (and Resenting) the Sabbath." The Jewish Quarterly Review Summer (2007):
438-62.
Horowitz examines how Jews practice their day of Shabbat or Sabbath. The author of this article describes the life of an
Orthodox Jew on their Sabbath day. His thesis is that Orthodox Jews practice Sabbath stricter than other sects. H. gives
examples of how Orthodox Jews observe the day of Sabbath. He provides passages from other works by other authors of
the late 19th century and 20th century. His argument is not that strong. He provides evidence by providing excerpts from
other author’s works but does not explain why he is providing that excerpt thoroughly. He mainly quotes the works of other
authors and rarely gives any scriptural evidence to back up his thesis. H. arguments sound accurate but he does not provide
adequate information to support it. Overall, he does a satisfactory job proving his thesis. This article will be helpful because it
provides with details of how Orthodox Jews practice on the day of Sabbath. The article hardly expresses the views of other
sects. All H. does is explain how Jews observe the day of Sabbath.

McDonald, MRav P. The Mystery of Shabbat: Mystery or fear of Shabbat? Ts. Hartford, WI, 2007.
McDonald observes the view of Christians and Jews as a whole. McDonald like Butler also writes about how there are
different days of Sabbath for Jews and Christians and how they came about. McDonald’s thesis is that, both religions have
different views of Sabbath based on tradition. M. writes that Adonai (God) should be worshipped daily. M. provides excerpts
from scriptures like the bible and also provides testimonies from church leaderships and scholars. However, M. may have a
lot of cited passages he does little to explain them. It is up to the reader to read the statements and infer what M. is trying to
justify. Nevertheless, the passages and history behind the day of Sabbath will be helpful for me because the history that M.
provides depicts the tensions the religious sects and religions had on how and when to practice Sabbath. The article deals
more with the Christian religion but does focus on the views of Orthodox Jews. The article exposes me to three different
points of view: God changed Shabbat to first day worship (Sunday), the day of Sabbath is on Saturday, and Adonai (God)
should be worshipped daily.

Ringwald, Christopher D. A Day Apart: How Jews, Christians, and Muslims Find Faith, Freedom, and Joy on the Sabbath.
New York: Oxford UP, Incorporated, 2007.
Ringwald in his book analyzes the view of Sabbath in the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. His
thesis is that all three religions have separate day of worship but they have one thing in common – a day of Sabbath. This
day of Sabbath are known as Shabbat by Jews and Juma by Muslims. Ringwald does a great job convincing his point. His
points are to the point and are organized. He provides passages from the Bible and from other books. R. describes how the
day of Sabbath was formed in the three religions and how they are practiced by the members of the three religions. The
book deals with Orthodox Jews, Roman Catholics, and Sunni Muslims but it does not describe the practices of each group in
great detail. However, this book will be useful for me throughout my inquiry because this book compare and contrasts the
views that Jews, Sunnis, and Catholics have on the day of Sabbath. The book also exposes me to how the views of each
sect changed over the years.

Yost, Frank H. The Early Christian Sabbath. Mountain View, CA: Pacific P Association, 1947.
Yost in his book examines the Sabbath of the early Christian Church. His thesis is that the day of Sabbath for Christians is
on Sunday and has been since the formation of the early Christian Church. Y. gives a vast amount of passages from the
Jewish and Christian Bible but rarely gives any outside knowledge to his views. However, Y. does develop his views clearly. I
am convinced by Y. because he offers a lot of evidence to support his conclusion and explains why he believes so. Because
this article focuses on the views of Sabbath by the early Christian Church, it will be helpful to use this article in my inquiry
because the early Christian Church was Roman Catholic. This article only gives the views of the day of Sabbath from the
early Christian Church perspective.