What is the Bible Sabbath
Association UK?
The Bible Sabbath Association UK is
a non-denominational organisation, open to all
believers observing the Seventh-day Sabbath. We are sometimes
known as Torah Christians, Orthodox
Messianic Jews (the only type we endorse where Jew
and Gentile are both required to keep Torah) YashaNet, and Kesher - Journal of Messianic
Judaism), Nazarite Jewish believers
(Netzarim),
Nesarim (Kehillat Beit Ha
Nesarim), Ebionites
(Ebionite Community),
Sabbatarians (Church of God movements such as
United
Church of God), or
Adventists (Seventh day
Adventists and her offshoots). In
Russia the groups of Sabbatarians can be traced having close
associations with Molokanes, known as Molokan Subbotniki.
The Sabbatarian movement is not
Messianic Judaism. The history of both movements can be traced
independently with Sabbatarianism in the 1600s in England and
Messianic Judaism in the later part of the 1800s. The
Sabbatarian movement welcomes any person who believes in Jesus
Christ and the observance of God's laws (the Torah). We do not
however endorse every flavour of Messianic Judaism since some
of the groups are Evangelical in nature having Jewish symbols,
with some groups even affiliating with the Roman Catholic
church through ecumenicalism. Far from leading people into
greater spirituality, some Messianic groups teach and
encourage people to abandon the physical application of the
Torah. They observe the symbols of faith but deny its power
through obedience. The type endorsed by the BSAUK is called
Orthodox Messianic Judaism as taught by the Tim Hegg of
Torah Resource and others who believe in the importance of the
observance of the Torah. None of these groups target Jews for
conversion.
The sabbatarian movement is usually
referred to as Judaizers however we trace our
origins to the first century followers of Jesus Christ who
were faithful obedient Torah observers. Sabbatarianism
believes the Torah did not abrogate at the death of Christ.
The process of salvation involves Gentiles being grafted into
the Israelite covenants. The laws of God have not changed for
gentiles. God has not moved the goal post. There was fierce
opposition in the first century when gentiles began to be
called into the covenant of Israel (Acts 15) however gentiles
were expected to attend the synagogue to hear the words of
Moses each Sabbath (Acts 15:21). The gentiles were to learn
the requirements of the covenant of Israel through a gradual
process of study, however some pharisees at the time wanted
the gentiles circumcised and keeping the whole law before they
were even allowed to attend the synagogue (Acts 15:1-2). The
Sabbatarian movement is a broad spectrum of beliefs with the
religious observance differing from group to group. We
do not target Jews for conversion but live in harmony with
them.
The Sabbatarian movement can be
traced in the 1600s in England with the
followers of John Traske, Thomas Tillam and
Theophilus Brabourne. The leaders were unjustly imprisoned for their observance
of Jewish laws, particularly the Sabbath, by the State, in
co-operation with the Church of
England. John Traske was
removed from the ministry and heavily fined. Traske was
publically whipped and his ear was nailed to the pillory
he was placed in. After the letter "J" was branded on his head
to show his adherence to Jewish opinions, Traske was once
again publically whipped and his remaining ear was nailed to
the stocks. Following this physical punishment Traske was
sentenced to life imprisonment in 1618. Traske,
one of the founders of Sabbatarianism taught an early form of
Judaism to his followers, instructing them to observe the
Sabbath, dietary laws and circumcision.
John Traske was by all accounts very eccentric,
and he was threatened with arrest and imprisonment both before
and after he advocated observance of the Sabbath. However, one
didn't have to be as provocative as Traske to face
persecution; a thoroughly orthodox Christian who wrote or
spoke in favour of the Sabbath was also in danger in the early
seventeenth century. Such was the case with Theophilus
Brabourne (1590-1662), an Anglican clergyman who hoped to
persuade the Church of England to adopt the seventh day
Sabbath in two books that he wrote in 1628 and 1632. In 1634
and early 1635, Brabourne was imprisoned, repeatedly examined
by church officials, and threatened with excommunication and a
fine of 1000 pounds before his carefully-worded recantation
was accepted on April 30, 1635 [1, p. 66]. (Brabourne claimed
that he never recanted anything of any substance, and in the
more tolerant climate of the 1650s he wrote again in favor of
the Sabbath.)
In "M. Misson's Memoirs and Observations in
his Travels around England," a book published by Frenchman
Henri Misson in 1698 he comments, "Here and there also you
meet with a Millenarian; but I know there is a particular
Society, though it makes but little noise, of People, who
though they go by the Name of Sabbatarians make Profession of
expecting the Reign of a Thousand Years without participating
in the other opinions which are ascribed to the ancient
Millenarians. These Sabbatharians are so call'd, because they
will not remove the Day of Rest from Saturday to Sunday
...
"They leave off work betimes on Friday Evening, and are
very rigid observers of their Sabbath. They administer Baptism
only to adult People [footnote: `in other aspects they
subscribe to our Confession of Faith']; and perhaps they are
blameable in these two Things only because they look upon them
to be more important ... The major Part of them will eat
neither Pork, nor Blood, nor things strangled ..."
In the book, Martin Luther By Michael A.
Mullett he writes:
"... in Moravia (in the
modern Czech Republic) the Jews had 'circumcised many
Christians and call them by the new name of Sabbatarians.'
(1500-1538).
The Roman Catholic church changed
the day of worship to Sunday by edict of the Council of
Laodicea in 360AD:
"Christians should not
Judaize and should not be idle on the Sabbath, but should work
on that day; they should, however, particularly reverence the
Lord’s day and, if possible, not work on it, because they were
Christians" (Canon 29 [A.D. 360]).
Catholic Website:
(www.catholic.com/library/Sabbath_or_Sunday.asp)
or
Christians must not judaize by resting
on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring
the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as
Christians. But if any shall be found to
be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.
(Percival Translation)
Website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaizers
The Roman Catholic church under Vatican II from
1962 changed its foundational teachings from being the only
true church (outside of which was no salvation) to embrace
believers of all faiths through a process called
ecumenicalism. Few people today realise that Catholicism as
taught today is not authentic Catholic doctrine as taught in
the past. Some catholics believe apostasy set into Catholicism
from 1962 and has carried on ever since. For information on
the doctrinal changes watch the video: Vatican
II: Council of Apostasy.
BSAUK is dedicated to upholding
civil liberty and freedom of worship without state
interference or identification by the state of individual
religious beliefs.
The purpose of the
BSAUK.
Its main purposes are:
-
to promote fellowship and
cooperation between Sabbath-keepers of various groups;
-
to promote Sabbath
observance on a non-denominational basis;
-
to restore respect and
honour for the Ten Commandments as a whole, with special
emphasis on the Fourth, which has been forgotten by most of
the world;
-
to encourage the repeal of
laws which enforce the keeping of Sunday (or any day) by any
unit of man's government; and
-
to defeat the adoption of
any calendar which would disrupt the seven-day weekly cycle.
BSAUK is independent of any
religious church or group and separate from the parent
organisation in the United States. We are here to promote the
Seventh day, to encourage felllowship, understanding and help
for Sabbatarians. We reserve the right to hold discussions on
various doctrinal issues to promote research, study and
personal development.
Sabbatarians in the
United Kingdom
There are
many church groups in the UK which promote
the Seventh day Sabbath. The most well known of these are the
Seventh
Day Adventists. They are popular today
with churches in most areas. There are also large communities
belonging to the Church of God Seventh Day scattered around
with large groups in the London areas. With the demise of the
Worldwide
Church of God there exist many
splinter organisations with the predominant groups being the
United
Church of God and the Church of God, An
International Community. An
interesting development is the rise of sacred name groups like
the Congregation of Yahweh that promote the seventh day and
biblical festivals. There are also Messianic Jewish
congregations of every variety. Some former Messianic Jews
have formed the Nazarene Jewish movement living a more Torah
observant lifestyle within the context of Judaism.
Worldwide there are millions of
Sabbatarians, we estimate that only 200,000 of these observe
the biblical festivals of Leviticus 23 including all the
messianic and christians
throughout the world. The numbers of Sabbatarians that follow
a form of early Judaism accepting the 613 Jewish laws is very
small.
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