hey I have rasta friends and they follow the bible (or the Ible as they say) strictly so I'm guessing it would be the seventh day
My previous neighbors are rasta, and they say that to a happy rasta every day is a day of worship. Those are great people. I was sorry to have to move. My new neghbors aren't near as great.
Are Rastas Sabbath keepers? Could someone ask around and maybe fill me in? I belong to a Christian church(Seventh-day Adventist) that keeps the seventh day Sabbath. I know that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (aka Coptic Church) are Sabbath keepers as well. I've never had the privilege of knowing any Rastas but I understand that Bob Marely was a very devout man that had memorized huge portions of the Bible.
I still go to church on sunday and since alot of rastafarians haven't strayed too far from christianity and are a large part of the Ethiopian orthodox church they too worship on a sunday, although obviusely there are Grounations in rastafarian comunities unfortunately as a white boy from southampton england i have never been to one and the closet i can get is playing some count ossie and the mystic revelations of rastafari out of some big speakers pretending i'm there.
I wouldn't say many, but some celebrate in the EOC on Sunday. Coincidently, in Ethiopia, Sabbath actually begins Friday night, goes through Saturday (preserving the OT commandment), and finishes Sunday. Rastas are so diverse as a group, everyone does different things. Some will only celebrate Saturday, because they see Sunday as a western Christian perversion. This one brother I knew, used to say that he didn't celebrate any one day for Sabbath because he had wasted so much time in his life, he was making it up for the Lord!
I was a bit curious. I do know that 25 million members of the Ethopian OrthodoxChurch (aka Coptic Church) keep the true biblical Sabbath(Saturday).I did some research and discovered somethings. Jesuit missionaries to Ethopia only got as far as the coast so some EOC members near the coast keep Sunday. Further in the middle highlands some keep Sabbath and Sunday. Beyond the middle higlands the EOC members observe Sababth as Orthodox Jews do from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.
That was an interesting post ^^^ I have read that their were a group of Portuguese Jesuits in the 1500s that made it to the highlands on their mission to make an alliance with "Prester John". They built a famous bridge over a fairly trecherous canyon that had divided two ethic clans of Ethiopians (Amhara and Oromo, I think). This bridge was destroyed in the 1930s by the Italians, and was being rebuilt by a group of non-profit engineers from the states, last time I heard anything about it. Also French Jesuits had made in roads during the 18OOs, esp. in the elite circles. Haile Selassie, for example, was raised and tutored by a French Jesuit with whom he became very close (there is an interesting story about this relationship, if anyone would like to know more...). As for the EOC in Eritrea, and possibly Tigre/Wello, I am not sure what happened, but you can bet that it was heavily influenced by the Italian presence there. I do know that in the States, the EOC laity (I am not sure about monks/clergy) usually go to church on Sundays.
Iman keep Saturdays! sacred and for rest and thinking and such... Sunday is NOT the day of rest etc, many christians rest then fi Yeshuas rising after his crucifixiton was on a Sunday. Bless there are other days but iman not very good with dates, will look them up for yuh
What exactly does "keeping" sabbath mean to you? I'm very interested in this, coming from a Jewish background. There are so many degrees of observance in Judaism, from people who simply don't go to work (like just about everyone in the western world on saturday) from those who won't turn on the lights in their home or drive a car (I'm quite sure they didn't have lights or cars when the bible was written....). I recieve criticism from more orthodox people I know for smoking ganja on the sabbath, but I would imagine for rasta this is part of the observance....or not.....enlighten me.
