Samuele Bacchiocchi

Samuele R. Bacchiocchi (29 January 1938,[1] Rome, Italy – 20 December 2008[2]) was a Seventh-day Adventist author and theologian, best known for his work on the Sabbath in Christianity, particularly in the historical work From Sabbath to Sunday, based on his doctoral thesis from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was also known for his opposition to rock and contemporary Christian music, jewelry, the celebration of Christmas and Easter, certain dress standards and alcohol. He was one of the best known Adventist scholars outside of the Adventist church.

Biography

Bacchiocchi was born in Rome, Italy on 20 January 1938.[3]

He later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theology from Newbold College in England, which was followed by a Master of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity at Andrews University in Michigan, United States; finishing in 1964. Bacchiocchi moved with his wife Anna to Kuyera, Shashamane district, Ethiopia, where he lectured in Bible and history.

In 1969 they returned to Rome where Bacchiocchi studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was the first non-Catholic to be admitted since its beginning in the 16th century.[4] He completed a Doctoratus in Church History in 1974 on the subject of the decline of Sabbath observance in the Early Christian church, based on his research in the Vatican libraries. He was awarded a gold medal by Pope Paul VI for the distinction of summa cum laude (Latin for "with highest praise").[5]

Bacchiocchi taught in the religion department of Andrews University from 1974 till his retirement in 2000. He served as professor of theology and church history. He regularly presented seminars worldwide, and has written many books and articles on biblical topics. He was married to Anna Gandin Bacchiocchi. They had three children—Loretta, Daniele and Gianluca—and five grandchildren: Christiano, Lauren, Isabella, Gianna, and Enzo.

In May 2007, Bacchiocchi announced that he had developed liver and colon cancer.[6] He ultimately succumbed to 4th stage liver cancer, shortly after midnight, Saturday 20 December 2008, the day before what would have been his 47th wedding anniversary. He was with his three children and his wife.

Impact

In 1977 Bacchiocchi published From Sabbath to Sunday, documenting the historical transition from the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday in the early Christian church due to social, pagan and political factors, and also the decline of standards for the day.[7] The book made an impact on the wider academic community outside of Adventism, as well as within Adventism. Prior to his work, Seventh-day Adventists had focused on the role played by either the Pope, or by Roman Emperor Constantine I in the transition from Sabbath to Sunday, with Constantine's law declaring Sunday as a day of rest for those not involved in farming work. Subsequent to Bacchiocchi's work, Adventists have emphasized that the shift from Sabbath to Sunday was a more gradual process.

Bacchiocchi has also been influential in the Worldwide Church of God (and its offshoots), which supported Sabbath-keeping until 1995, and also other Sabbath keeping groups.

Beliefs

Bacchiocchi supported the conservative lifestyle habits of Seventh-day Adventists, such as a vegetarian diet; abstinence from alcohol, coffee, and tea; and avoidance of rock music in church worship services. He was a recognized authority on the Sabbath, a practice he supported keeping.

In one newsletter he submitted an hypothesis, expanding the traditional Adventist belief that the antichrist is the papacy, to also include Islam,[8] which he reported "generated a lot of hate mail".[9]

Controversy

There was some controversy in the 2000s over Bacchiocchi's claim to have received the awards summa cum laude (Latin for "with highest honors"), the Pope's Gold Medal, and an official Roman Catholic imprimatur (Latin for "let it be printed") for his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University. An official letter claimed Bacchiocchi did not receive these awards.[10] By 2007, both parties agreed he had received a summa cum laude and the Pope's Gold Medal, but for the Licentia [a phase of the doctoral program]; and only a magna cum laude for the Doctoratus itself. Bacchiocchi defended his actions by claiming the difference between the Licentia and the Doctoratus is small and would not be understood by most English speakers.[11]

Jesuit conspiracy theory

A small minority of Adventists are suspicious of Bacchiocchi because he studied at the Gregorian University, claiming he was a covert Jesuit for the Vatican.[12] Also, Alberto Rivera claimed approval of From Sabbath to Sunday was given as a ploy to win over Adventists, as for similar ploys with other churches.[13] Rivera was a fundamentalist Christian who claimed to be a former Jesuit priest, however this point and many of his other claims are discredited by most authors.[14]

Publications

Bacchiocchi had a publishing arm called Biblical Perspectives, through which he published 16 books[15] of his own, and also a book by Graeme Bradford. He was the primary author of the Endtime Issues email newsletter. Typically four or five chapters of each of his books are freely available online. Bacchiocchi listed a number of favourable scholarly scholarly reviews on his website. List of books:

Sabbath:

Other:

Other authors:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Endtime Issues #194 gives this date approximately
  2. ↑ The Bacchiocchi Family, Passing of Dr. Bacchiocchi Spectrum Magazine 21 December 2008.
  3. ↑ WHO IS DR. SAMUELE BACCHIOCCHI?
  4. ↑ Who is Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi?
  5. ↑ Randolph Neal, Adventist Graduates from Jesuit University "Australian Record" VOL. 80. NO. 4, October 27, 1975
  6. ↑ Endtime Issues Newsletter No
  7. ↑ From Sabbath to Sunday: A Historical Investigation of the Rise of Sunday Observance in Early Christianity Biblical Perspectives
  8. ↑ "Islam and The Papacy in Prophecy", Endtime Issues no. 86, 6 July 2002
  9. ↑ "Church Growth Experiments in Secular Australia"
  10. ↑ Barbara Bergami, then General Secretary of the Pontifical Gregorian University, to Bishop James A. Murray of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo in Michigan, which covers the area where Bacchiocchi lived. As republished by Bacchiocchi in "Bacchiocchi Responds to False Allegations". Endtime Issues newsletter #159, self-published by Bacchiocchi. Bacchiocchi says the controversy was initiated by Stephen Korsman, who runs a website "Theotokos"
  11. ↑ Gianfranco Ghirlanda, the Rector (President) of the university, official letter to Bacchiocchi, 23 February 2007; as republished by Bacchiocchi. Bacchiocchi, section "The Gregorian University Responds to False Allegations" in "The Achievements of the Cross – Part 2", Endtime Issues #167
  12. ↑ Bacchiocchi, "Bacchiocchi Responds to False Allegations – Part 1". Endtime Issues #201. See also the section "The Choice of the Pontifical Gregorian University" and onwards, in Endtime Issues #159, for his explanation of why he studied there
  13. ↑ Alberto Rivera, at approx. 1:31:30 in Jesuits The Back Door video by (Adventist) James Arrabito. Angwin, CA: LLT Productions, 1983
  14. ↑ Metz, Gary (1981), "The Alberto Story", Cornerstone, 9 (53): 29–31, archived from the original on 2 December 2005 "Alberto Rivera: Is He For Real?", Christianity Today, 2 (2), 13 March 1981
  15. ↑ Biblical Perspectives - the web site of Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi
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