Table of Contents
Abbreviations vii
Introduction viii
1 The Background: Pre-Christian Calendars 1
Part 1 Before Constantine 7
2 Naming the Days 9
3 When to Meet 18
4 The Significance of the First Day of the Week 24
5 Christian Practices on the First Day of the Week 32
Part 2 From Constantine to the End of Antiquity 41
6 Constantine and the New Imperial Policy 43
7 Changes in Christian Worship 48
8 Laws Regarding the Lord's Day 53
9 Christian Views on the Sabbath 57
Part 3 The Middle Ages 67
10 A New Sunday Piety: From Feast to Funeral 70
11 A Day to Pray and to Play 83
12 Aquinas on Sunday and Sabbath 92
Part 4 The Reformation and Beyond 97
13 The Reformation 99
14 British Puritanism and the Sabbath 115
15 Seventh-Day Sabbatarianism 128
16 The Continuation of Puritan Sabbatarianism 133
17 Secularization and Renewal 139
Epilogue 153
Notes 154
For Further Reading 161
Index 163