Bacchiocchi was born in Rome, Italy on 20 January 1938. 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 establishment in the 16th century. 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. Bacchiocchi taught in the religion department of Andrews University from 1974 till his retirement in 2000. He taught theology and church history. He regularly presented seminars worldwide, and wrote many self-published books and articles on biblical topics. He was married to Anna Gandin Bacchiocchi. They had three children. In May 2007, Bacchiocchi announced that he had developed liver and colon cancer. 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. The book made an impact on the wider academic community outside 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, 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. In one newsletter he submitted an hypothesis, expanding upon the Adventist teaching that the antichrist is the papacy, to also include Islam, which he reported "generated a lot of hate mail".
Academic Awards Controversy
There was some controversy in the 2000s over Bacchiocchi's claim to have received the awards summa cum laude, the Pope's Gold Medal, and an official Roman Catholicimprimatur for his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University. An official letter claimed Bacchiocchi did not receive these awards. By 2007, both parties agreed he had received a summa cum laude and the Pope's Gold Medal, for the Licentia ; 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.
Fringe Adventists are suspicious of Bacchiocchi because he studied at the Gregorian University, claiming he was a covert Jesuit for the Vatican. 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. 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.
Publications
Bacchiocchi owned a small non-academic publishing house called Biblical Perspectives, through which he self-published 16 books of his own, and also a book by Graeme Bradford. He was the primary author of the email newsletter. Sabbath:
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Other authors:
Biblical Perspectives also published ' by Graeme Bradford, which is fully and freely at SDAnet
