Re-thinking Sabbath theology for transformational development

As established in paragraph 6.2 above, there is a relationship between religion and development, between how people believe or practise their religion and their socio-economic wellbeing. Re-thinking theology in this context proposes to enlarge or widen the focus and the application of how a community of faith applies its understanding of Scripture on how God relates to humanity and the world and how the community of faith should in turn relate to the

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world. This section of the concluding discussion brings to light how the SDA Church can intentionally and deliberately use its theology to promote transformational development. In the process it also highlights some of the SDA doctrines that have the potential to serve as instruments for Nigeria’s transformational development.

The doctrine of the Sabbath is of great importance to SDAs. It is one of the fundamental beliefs of this denomination. In the denomination’s publications of its beliefs, the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference (2005:281-282) explains the Sabbath as part of the unchangeable law of God, an integral part of the Ten Commandments. The day is the day of rest, a day of worship and a day for holy service. It is a token of God’s personal relationship with humans. The Sabbath is therefore a focal point in the worship of the Creator God. It is the foundation of true worship of the Creator (God) as distinguished from creatures.

SDAs teach that God rested on the seventh day, not because God was tired but so that God’s rest on the Sabbath in the creation account (Genesis 2:2) serves as a model for humans to follow eternally. The denomination believes that it is significant that the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it for the use of humans. In the wilderness, as Israel journeyed to Canaan, God demonstrated the holiness inherent in the Sabbath by not providing manna on the Sabbath day (Exodus 16:21-26). The sanctity of the Sabbath was reemphasized when God included it in the Decalogue given to Israel at Sinai (Exodus 20) during its wanderings. According to SDAs, the validity of the Sabbath is eternal. From the Old Testament Judaism to the apostolic era of the New Testament, the Sabbath commandment remains sacrosanct (Seventh-day Adventist General Conference 2005:282-286).

Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Catholic Church, the first Church, wrongfully transferred the solemnity of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday (Ellen White 1939: 386- 387). The SDA Church believes that this unbiblical change in the day of worship has prophetic28 implications. SDAs, citing Isaiah 56 and 58, believe that the truth about the biblical Sabbath shall however be restored. The declaration of the apocalyptic message of Revelation 14:6-12 is fulfilled by the SDA Church, an important part of which is the call to true and biblical Sabbath observance (Seventh-day Adventist Church General Conference 2005: 294-295).

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This section of the thesis proposes an expansion of the message of this doctrine, which is very important to SDAs, beyond the literal application of the Sabbath day. It seeks to use a deeper and wider scope of the Sabbath concept to address the need for transformational development of human life in Nigeria. While SDAs fulfil their perceived mandate on the issue of keeping the Sabbath day, it can maximize the potential capacity in the Sabbath ordinance to address national challenges of injustice, impoverishment, environmental degradation/abuse, skewed and unjust distribution of resources and to conflicts that ravage the country. The publication of Michael Cafferky of Sothern Adventist University, Texas gives insight into how the Sabbath law has great significance for the transformational development of the human race, which I in turn want to apply to the Nigerian situation.

Cafferky (2015:35-46) for example expands the concept of the Sabbath beyond the traditional day of rest. The Sabbath is brought in alignment with the United Nations’ (UN) vision for sustainable development of the world (Cafferky 2015:35). Cafferky here links the Sabbath espoused in the sabbatical rest of agricultural land to other issues critical to development, such as redistribution of factors germane to prosperity, economic equity and justice. The Sabbath also conveys an important paradigm for God’s love to humanity, the importance of care for the environment and the experience of shalom (Cafferky 2015:35-36).

Other concepts elucidated by Cafferky (2015:36-38) include Sabbath as rest. Physical rest is required after a period of work to energize for future work and ministry. This rest has become a metaphor for responsible deployment of the earth’s resources in ways that will be helpful for the present while having the future in full consideration. He also presents God as caring for the environment and giving humans the responsibility to care for it. This is the work of humans. Rest and work are intertwined and critical for the flourishment of both humans and the environment. The Sabbath as a concept demolishes the false partitioning of humans’ existence into body/soul and that which separate humanity from its environment. Humanity, animal life, plant life and the entire environment are all connected in an interdependent relationship. The soul is connected to the body. In the same way, humans are also connected to the environment. He argues further that when the earth is abused, it is an attack on God, the Creator. God is therefore also seen as an important part in the multi-directional relationships that bring true

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Cafferky (2015:37-38) continues to argue on the significance of the Sabbath as a metaphor for transformational development by highlighting the covenant aspect of the holy day. God is committed to humans as demonstrated by seeking fellowship with humankind on the Sabbath. The covenant of love with humans becomes a model for how humans are to relate to each other. The Sabbath promotes the sense of community rather than individuality. The sabbatical rest applied to the land and debt cancellation are also models for economic justice and the showing of mercy. These perspectives are not emphasized in the communications of SDAs to the world. SDAs teach that the biblical Sabbath day is Saturday and that keeping Sunday and other violations of the holy day is a deviation from God’s will for humanity. The concept of the Sabbath day however can have a deeper meaning, especially for the transformational development of Nigeria The significance of Cafferky’s article to this thesis is that the Sabbath doctrine is central to SDAs’ mission. The sustainable development application by Cafferky models the kind of theological re-thinking being proposed in this thesis.