Samuele Bacchiocchi dies

I just noticed this story on Worldnetdaily announcing yesterday's passing of Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi.

Biblical scholar Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, best known for his teachings on how Sabbath observance shifted toward Sunday worship in much of Christendom, died yesterday at his Michigan home at the age of 70 after a two-year battle with fourth-stage liver cancer.
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A Seventh-Day Adventist, Bacchiocchi believed there was no Scriptural mandate to change or eliminate Sabbath-keeping, and he singled out the Catholic Church for its role in changing the day.
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Bacchiocchi also explained the influence of pagan sun worship provides a "plausible explanation for the Christian choice of Sunday" over the day of Saturn. Its effect wasn't just limited to Sunday. It apparently led to the placement of Jesus' birth in late December.

"The adoption of the 25th of December for the celebration of Christmas is perhaps the most explicit example of sun worship's influence on the Christian liturgical calendar," Bacchiocchi writes. "It is a known fact that the pagan feast of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti – the birthday of the Invincible Sun, was held on that date."

Dr. Bacchiocchi was probably one of the top 5 or 10 most influential advocates for the Sabbath Day in the 20th century. He is probably best known for his book "From Sabbath to Sunday: A Historical Investigation of the Rise of Sunday Observance in Early Christianity."