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Is the Christian Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?

Contested

Texts of equal or higher authority genuinely pull both ways — SAM names both sides.

The text directly commands the seventh day (Saturday) as the Sabbath, but honest readers genuinely disagree about whether the New Testament's consistent first-day practice represents a Spirit-led transfer of the day — and no passage explicitly commands that transfer.

A Tier 1 command specifies the seventh day with no same-or-higher-tier explicit revocation; but Tier 3–4 texts record consistent first-day gathering after the resurrection, and Tier 4 letters treat day-observance as a matter of conscience — creating a genuine tension the text itself does not resolve with a direct statement either way.

The unresolved tension: Two unresolved tensions: (1) The Tier 1 command specifies the seventh day with no explicit Tier 1/2 revocation, while consistent New Testament first-day practice (Tier 3–5) is never commanded as a replacement — the text does not state which governs. (2) The Sabbath command is explicitly framed as a sign between God and the children of Israel (Exodus 31:13,17); whether it binds the nations who were never party to that covenant in the same way is not resolved by any passage examined.

Key texts:
Genesis 2:2-3Tier 5 · Other
“On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it…”
Exodus 20:8-11Tier 1 · God
““Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor…”
Exodus 31:12-17Tier 1 · God
“Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may …”

…and 14 more verses weighed in the full analysis.

This is a summary.

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