Constantine's and Other Early Sunday Laws

In his efforts to unite pagan sun worship with Christianity, Constantine found the common denominator: Sunday. Both Christians and pagans held the day in high regard at the beginning of the fourth century. Even the wording of his law shows that at the time of its inception he still wavered between paganism and Christianity. By calling Sunday "the venerable day of the sun," Constantine showed his high regard for the pagans, while at the same time, catering to the western bishops of the Christian faith who were crying out for such a decree. For the verbiage of Constantine's Sunday law and a deeper discussion of the earliest Sunday laws, see the footnote. |0+|

The bishops later became dissatisfied and in AD 399-401 the Council of Carthage insisted that the emperor Theodosius II provide them with some means of enforcing Sunday attendance at church. Theodosius responded in AD 425 with the most comprehensive Sunday law in existence at his time:

"On the following occasions all amusements of the theaters and the circuses shall be denied throughout all cities to the people thereof, and the minds of Christians and of the faithful shall be wholly occupied in the worship of God: namely, on the Lord's day, which is the first day of the whole week, on the Natal Day and Epiphany of Christ, and on the day of Easter and of Pentecost, as long as the vestments that imitate the light of the celestial font attest to the new light of holy baptism; at the time also when the commemoration of the Apostolic Passion, the teacher of all Christianity, is duly celebrated by everyone." (Law of Theodosius II, Feb. 1, 425, in THEODOSIAN CODE 15.5.5, p. 433. Copyright 1952 by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.)

This decree expanded all the boundaries of Constantine's Sunday law by requiring a person to worship on Sunday. While it is not spelled out as to how a person should spend his time in worship, nevertheless, worship is required. One might note that, with the popular places of entertainment closed, the people would be inclined to attend church almost by default.

By the time of this Sunday law, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. Thus, this law had broad and sweeping ramifications for all those who were not in fact Christians. Part of the law was worded to cope with those who might not appreciate this newest Roman decree: "If any persons even now are enslaved by the madness of the Jewish impiety (Sabbath worship) or the error and insanity of stupid paganism, they must know that there is a time for prayer and a time for pleasure." (ibid.) So we see that this law was a Sunday law entirely for the purposes of Christianity, while the Sunday law of Constantine was an effort to placate both Christians and pagans.

There were other Sunday laws between 425 and the 1600s. For example, in 789 Charlemagne decreed that even normal "servile" work was to be avoided on Sunday so that the day could be set aside for holy worship and thanks to God for His goodness. This newest Sunday law further expanded the role of State in church affairs by affecting personal behavior. Not only were the effects of "temptation" removed by the Sunday closing aspects of the law, but even personal activities were brought under the censure of the State. This law demanded the a person "keep Sunday" in their personal lives as a holy day in every sense of the word "holy".