Sabbath keeping is a distinctively Jewish art form. It is, however, a practice and a discipline that has long preoccupied Christians who have responded to a core requirement of the God of covenant. It is unfortunate that in U.S. society, largely out of a misunderstood Puritan heritage, Sabbath has gotten enmeshed in legalism and moralism and blue laws and life-denying practices that contradict the freedom-bestowing intention of Sabbath. Such distortions, moreover, have led to endlessly wearying quarrels about "Sunday activities" such as movies and card playing and, in some states still, purchasing liquor on Sunday.

All of that common lore in U.S. society, of course, amounts to a pitiful misrepresentation of Sabbath keeping as an art form. When taken seriously in faith by Jews--and derivatively by Christians--Sabbath keeping is a way of making a statement of peculiar identity amid a larger public identity, of maintaining and enacting a counteridentity that refuses "mainstream" identity that itself entails antihuman practice and the worship of antihuman gods. Understood in this way, Sabbath is a bodily act of testimony to alternative values and resistance to pervading values and the assumptions behind those values. In these sessions, consideration will be given to Sabbath keeping as testimony and resistance, acts of faith commonly shared (in different forms) by Jews and Christians.

We suggest that you follow this study with "Sabbath Practices" by Dorothy Bass.