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This is the 3rd of a 7 part series on the days of the week. culled from various places on the net.

Friday was the day of Frigg (Venus). Saturday for Saturn. And Sunday for, duh, the Sun.

The first day of the week is Sunday. For most Christian denominations this day is considered a holy day, due to the fact that Christ was reported to have risen from the dead on a Sunday. For this reason, since ancient times, it has been designated a "day of rest" mainly for the purpose of contemplation and worship.

Yet the name of Sunday has nothing to do with Christianity, but everything to do with even more ancient religions. The ancient Greeks knew that the sun was the source of life on the planet and they gave it prime importance in their thinking. When the Romans later adopted the seven day week they emphasize their respect for the sun by naming the first day of the week for it..."dies solis" or "day of the sun".

The actual word "Sunday" is derived from the German word "Sonntag" (and they likely got it from the Scandanavians). These folk too placed a great deal of importance on the sun. Some tribes of these Germanic peoples invaded England in the 500's or so. They were known as the Angles and the Saxons. The old English work was "sunnandaeg" and it changed over time to become our current, "Sunday".

In the Jewish law it is the first day of the Hebrew calendar week. In many Christian traditions it is the Christian Sabbath, which replaced the Jewish Shabbat (Saturday). Sunday is considered the first day of the week in many countries, including the United States and Australia, although today some countries such as the United Kingdom regard Sunday as the seventh day, and the last day of the civil week.

Some early Jewish Christians observed the Sabbath on Saturday as specified in the Ten Commandments, but by the first half of the second century an increasing number of Christians would gather for worship on Sunday. Some continued to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, until even the crusader period.

Constsntine settled the matter once and for all on 7 March 321 AD when he decreed that Sunday will be observed as the Roman day of rest.

Interesting fact: Only months beginning on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th.
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Cool...i'm sitting here watching Sunday Morning on CBS and they're doing a segment on Sunday....Sunday songs, Sunday blues, why sports are played on Sundays. In the early 40's Billie Holiday recorded a song called "Gloomy Sunday" and it was so depressing the BBC banned it.

google CBS Sunday Morning and scroll down for a recap of the segment....it's interesting stuff.
Last edited by ^PuF^
Puf, I watched that, too. It was very interesting. I realized I've always hated Sunday, too. LOL I like to work and now that I have a job where I work on Sundays and every other day of the week, I enjoy them much more. As a child, I hated the fact you couldn't shop or go to most restaurants on Sunday and am glad that has changed. Of course, Florence legalizing alcohol for restaurants on Sunday was a plus toward making it like any other day of the week.
(disclaimer) Before the Jesus freaks get on to me, I don't have to wait for one day of the week to appreciate the greatness of the Universe.
George, I grew up in the sticks. There was nothing in "town" worth visiting when it was open...haha.

I enjoy worship on Sunday, but I also associate many positive things with Sunday from my childhood. The whole extended family would often gather at my Grandparents' house, especially if my Grandfather had good luck fishing. He ALWAYS had good luck fishing. Big Grin In the summer, we made homemade ice cream. We had so much fun together. Ouch, that made me homesick.
quote:
Originally posted by George Sand:
Before the Jesus freaks get on to me, I don't have to wait for one day of the week to appreciate the greatness of the Universe.


George, I grew up in a very conservative (read: legalistic) church that was consumed by pattern theology and obsessed with creating rules/laws for people to obey. The obvious hypocrisies that I was surrounded with, combined with the realization that I could never live up to their rules to earn my way to heaven, drove me to abandon church completely as a young adult.

Thankfully, through my wife I found a group of Christians that are human, fallible, and actually practice what they preach by helping those in need and showing love to everyone. God used them to draw me in and turn my focus from being just "churched" to walking with Christ every day. Little by little He's chipping away at my rough edges and making me a better person.

I say all that to say that I know what you mean - I read and pray every day and try to live the Christian life every day everywhere I go and it had made all the difference! I enjoy Sunday worship but Sunday is not some Holy Day to me. But I can see why you would feel compelled to give your disclaimer Wink

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