But notwithstanding all the efforts to establish Sunday sacredness, papists themselves publicly confessed the divine authority of the Sabbath and the human origin of the institution by which it had been supplanted. In the sixteenth century a papal council plainly declared: “Let all Christians remember that the seventh day was consecrated by God, and hath been received and observed, not only by the Jews, but by all others who pretend to worship God; though we Christians have changed their Sabbath into the Lord’s Day.”— Ibid., pages 281, 282. Those who were tampering with the divine law were not ignorant of the character of their work. They were deliberately setting themselves above God. GC 577.2
Posted by Paul Batura | Jun 20, 2023 | Culture
If the famed novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald was right, that life begins all over in the summer, residents of the Northern Hemisphere can look forward to big changes tomorrow.
Summer is synonymous with many things, from swimming to all kinds of fun under the sun. For many of us, it’s also connected to indulging on ice cream. Although it wasn’t invented here, Americans eat a lot of it – over 1.6 billion gallons each year. Records at Mount Vernon show that President Washington spent $200 on the favorite treat during the summer of 1790. The emergence of refrigeration popularized it with the masses.
It’s unclear if Christians eat more ice cream than non-Christians, but as we head into summer, you might be interested to know there’s a surprising connection between believers and the ice-cream sundae.
If the reader would understand the agencies to be employed in the soon-coming contest, he has but to trace the record of the means which Rome employed for the same object in ages past. If he would know how papists and Protestants united will deal with those who reject their dogmas, let him see the spirit which Rome manifested toward the Sabbath and its defenders.
The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan by Ellen G White
Royal edicts, general councils, and church ordinances sustained by secular power were the steps by which the pagan festival attained its position of honor in the Christian world. The first public measure enforcing Sunday observance was the law enacted by Constantine. (A.D. 321; see Appendix note for page 53.) This edict required townspeople to rest on “the venerable day of the sun,” but permitted countrymen to continue their agricultural pursuits. Though virtually a heathen statute, it was enforced by the emperor after his nominal acceptance of Christianity. GC 573.2 – GC 574.1
Laws prohibiting work and various activities on Sunday date back to America’s settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. In those early days before the country’s founding, residents weren’t only not permitted to conduct certain business on the Sabbath but also required to attend church twice on Sunday.
As the papacy became firmly established, the work of Sunday exaltation was continued. For a time the people engaged in agricultural labor when not attending church, and the seventh day was still regarded as the Sabbath. But steadily a change was effected. Those in holy office were forbidden to pass judgment in any civil controversy on the Sunday. Soon after, all persons, of whatever rank, were commanded to refrain from common labor on pain of a fine for freemen and stripes in the case of servants. Later it was decreed that rich men should be punished with the loss of half of their estates; and finally, that if still obstinate they should be made slaves. The lower classes were to suffer perpetual banishment. GC 574.3
The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan by Ellen G White
Known as “Blue Laws”– a somewhat disparaging term that correlated the color blue with being “rigidly moral” – these regulations forbade shopping, gambling, drinking alcohol – and consuming “sucking sodas.”
Yes – sucking sodas.
Since consumption of soda on Sunday was considered by some to be frivolous and a violation against the spirit of the Scriptures, pharmacists – who were allowed to be open and who ran soda fountains – decided to substitute ice cream sodas with selling ice cream with chocolate sauce instead.
It seems no “blue law” prohibited the dispensing of chocolate sauce, whipped cream or cherries.
Historians believe the term “ice cream sundae” was coined to communicate the fact that unlike ice cream sodas, this treat was available after church.
As for why it’s spelled “sundae” and not “Sunday”?
Different theories exist – from pharmacists not wanting to demean the day and offend religious authorities to wanting to coin a memorably named product – a Marketing 101 kind of thinking.
The decrees of councils proving insufficient, the secular authorities were besought to issue an edict that would strike terror to the hearts of the people and force them to refrain from labor on the Sunday. At a synod held in Rome, all previous decisions were reaffirmed with greater force and solemnity. They were also incorporated into the ecclesiastical law and enforced by the civil authorities throughout nearly all Christendom. (See Heylyn, History of the Sabbath, pt. 2, ch. 5, sec. 7.)
Still the absence of Scriptural authority for Sundaykeeping occasioned no little embarrassment. The people questioned the right of their teachers to set aside the positive declaration of Jehovah, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” in order to honor the day of the sun. To supply the lack of Bible testimony, other expedients were necessary. A zealous advocate of Sunday, who about the close of the twelfth century visited the churches of England, was resisted by faithful witnesses for the truth; and so fruitless were his efforts that he departed from the country for a season and cast about him for some means to enforce his teachings. When he returned, the lack was supplied, and in his after labors he met with greater success. He brought with him a roll purporting to be from God Himself, which contained the needed command for Sunday observance, with awful threats to terrify the disobedient. This precious document—as base a counterfeit as the institution it supported—was said to have fallen from heaven and to have been found in Jerusalem, upon the altar of St. Simeon, in Golgotha. But, in fact, the pontifical palace at Rome was the source whence it proceeded. Frauds and forgeries to advance the power and prosperity of the church have in all ages been esteemed lawful by the papal hierarchy. GC 575.3 – GC 576.1
Graver and far more substantive issues confront us today, and we may find the history of blue laws and ice cream sundaes quaint and even charmingly humorous. But we know there is something attractive and admirable about a culture that prioritizes worship and strives not to offend the sensibilities of people of faith.
But notwithstanding all the efforts to establish Sunday sacredness, papists themselves publicly confessed the divine authority of the Sabbath and the human origin of the institution by which it had been supplanted. In the sixteenth century a papal council plainly declared: “Let all Christians remember that the seventh day was consecrated by God, and hath been received and observed, not only by the Jews, but by all others who pretend to worship God; though we Christians have changed their Sabbath into the Lord’s Day.”— Ibid., pages 281, 282. Those who were tampering with the divine law were not ignorant of the character of their work. They were deliberately setting themselves above God. GC 577.2
The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan by Ellen G White
The next time you enjoy a few scoops of your favorite ice cream smothered in hot fudge, maybe even to mark the start of summer, you might be reminded that you don’t have just the proprietor or ice cream maker to thank – but also a culture of faith from which sprung one of the world’s favorite treats.
Photo from Getty.
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