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) (Firstfruits
of Zion, YashaNet, and Torah Resource), 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 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 ..."
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 Lords 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
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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