Posted on 04/03/2017 2:58:51 PM PDT by NYer
Easter Sunday, the greatest liturgical feast of the year, has been celebrated on various days throughout the Church’s 2,000 year history and the scheduling has provided more than its share of controversy.
From the very beginning of the Church the feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord was celebrated in relation with the Jewish feast of Passover. Since the events of Christ’s Passion and resurrection occurred in that context, Christians have always felt that they should celebrate his resurrection in the same way, rather than a fixed date on the calendar.
However, over the centuries Christians have disagreed over the calculation of Passover and the Christian celebration of Christ’s resurrection. This means Easter (though most often celebrated on a Sunday) is celebrated on different dates each year by various Christians.
Pope Francis, as well as other Christian leaders, has called for a unification of a celebration of Easter and has expressed his openness to changing the date of celebration for the sake of unity.
In essence there are three main arguments as to when Easter should be celebrated.
14th Day of Nisan
According to Eusebius, there was a portion of the early Christian community that thought, “the 14th day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should always be observed as the feast of the life-giving pasch … contending that the fast ought to end on that day, whatever day of the week it might happen to be.”
Modern-day Jehovah’s Witnesses, while not celebrating the day of Jesus’ resurrection, have a similar dating of their celebration of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, observing the annual “Memorial of Christ’s death” on the 14th day of Nisan, whatever day of the week it might land on.
This practice in the Early Church of celebrating Easter on a weekday was quickly condemned, as most Christians believed Easter should be celebrated on the day of the week that is always associated with Jesus’ resurrection: Sunday.
Western Christianity
According to the norms established by the Council of Nicaea (325) and later adopted for Western Christianity at the Synod of Whitby, Easter Sunday falls each year on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This year, for example, the vernal equinox falls on Monday, March 20, and the first full moon after that occurs on Tuesday, April 11. The Sunday after that is April 16 and so Easter Sunday this year is celebrated on that day.
This calculation accepted by the Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant communities does not depend on the calculation of Passover according to the Jewish calendar. There are several different rules that regulate the Jewish celebration of Passover and Christians decided to differentiate themselves and rely on their own calculations.
Orthodox Calculation
As explained by Fr. Jon Magoulias at the Greek Reporter, the primary reason why the Orthodox calculation of Easter differs from the rest of Christianity is because the “Orthodox Church continues to follow the Julian calendar when calculating the date of Pascha (Easter). The rest of Christianity uses the Gregorian calendar. There is a thirteen-day difference between the two calendars, the Julian calendar being thirteen (13) days behind the Gregorian.”
Additionally, Fr. Magoulias notes that the Orthodox Church abides by a previous requirement that said the “Pascha must take place after the Jewish Passover in order to maintain the Biblical sequence of Christ’s Passion. The rest of Christianity ignores this requirement, which means that on occasion Western Easter takes place either before or during the Jewish Passover.”
On occasion the two dates coincide, “when the full moon following the equinox comes so late that it counts as the first full moon after 21 March in the Julian calendar as well as the Gregorian…[which occurred] in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2017, but, after that, not again until 2034.”
After meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in 2014, Pope Francis said to reporters, “Another thing we mentioned, that may be considered in the pan-Orthodox Council, is the date of Easter, because it is somewhat ridiculous to say, ‘When is your Christ resurrected? Mine was resurrected last week.’ Yes, the date of Easter is a sign of unity.”
Since then Pope Francis has expressed in other meetings with Orthodox Churches his desire for a unified celebration of Easter so that Christians could witness to the world more strongly.
This year, however, the celebration providentially falls on the same day and Christians around the world will celebrate Easter on April 16, 2017.
Catholic Easter ping!
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Easter is a pagan celebration, not for believers.
Passover is the biblical event, beginning at sundown on the 15th day of the Biblical month of the Aviv.
The Aviv must of course be determined agriculturally, by the condition of the barley on the slope of the Mount of Olives (will it be ready to bake the loves for the shew bread?)
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Does anybody know if Christians across the world do chocolate easter bunnies, and all that jazz?
It sounds to me like something strictly Western...
Wherever Mars or Hershey’s are sold
Both East and West calculate Easter/Pashca the same, but due to some Orthodox still using the Old Calendar, frequently the calculation of the "Equinox" (that must be after March 25) is different and therefore the Easter date is different as well. It really has nothing to do with Passover; East and West treat that the same.
Since all canonical Orthodox want to use the same date, the New Calendarists defer to the Old.
The Holy Fire appears in the Holy Sepulcher on the date of Orthodox Pascha, so obviously that date is correct.
I am just kidding, but I think this is one area that East and West could find a good Ecumenical solution.
Orthodox Christians sometimes set off fireworks and eat meat. Lots of meat.
I’ve known them to eat chocolates as well.
Are you calling the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the death a pagan belief?
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>> “Are you calling the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the death a pagan belief?” <<
No not at all, but easter has absolutely nothing to do with Yeshua’s resurrection, which happened just before sundown on the Sabbath.
Easter is totally grounded in pagan fertility cults, and is a mockery of the resurrection.
Easter has Semiramis being resurrected as an egg-laying rabbit at sunrise.
Yeshua was resurrected about 12 hours before that.
Not one of Yehova’s events occurs at sunrise! Read your Bible!
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Easter was brought into Christian religion when Rome mixed pagan myths in with The church Jesus built. This is why Revelation names the RCC as The Whore of Babylon. She fornicates with other religions. The calendar was changed, holidays were changed, and pagan religions was mixed into the Church to settle the pagans forced to join the RCC church under Constantine. If you were Satan, would not changing the calendar be a valuable tool to confuse real Christians, and have them worship the gods of Babylon?
In the Last days, the RCC will push the belief that we all serve the same god and we can get to Heaven many ways. This is pitiful from people that should know there is no other name to save you than Jesus. A simple Google search can confirm Easter has nothing to do with the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and Jesus was born on Tabernacles Not Christmas. Salvation is from the Jews, not Rome.
I'll pay careful attention at church this year to the discussion of egg-laying rabbits at sunrise.
Although, having been through it before, I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the liturgy about Semiramis, rabbits, egg-laying, or sunrise. There is a mention of bees, however.
And the Easter vigil Mass starts after sundown on Saturday night, not at sunrise. The "sunrise service" is a Protestant thing.
Horsehockey times about 15. Made-up non history mixed with bad exegesis.
Does anybody know if Christians across the world do chocolate easter bunnies, and all that jazz?
Yes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny
After Jesus ascended, they "tarried" in Jerusalem to receive Power on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was poured out the same day the Law was given in Exodus. The next "Lord's day" will be "The Feast of Trumpets" or Rosh Hashanah. That will be the Rapture to go be with the Lord for the wedding Feast we read about in the Gospels. Mat 25:1-13 is of particular interest if you don't want your head cut off by the Beast. Then comes Yom Kippur 7 years after the Rapture and immediately afterwards is Tabernacles, when Jesus comes to rule and reign for 1000 years in Jerusalem. In Jewish culture, there are 10 days between Trumpets and Yom Kippur, but the Bible tells us that unless the days were shortened, there would be no flesh left, so Jesus will come in 7 years, not 10.
Learning Jewish Feast Days, culture, Marriage Laws, ect, will do more to open up the Bible that anything you can get from religious schools. Jews are God's chosen people, Jesus was born to the Jews, The relationship of God to the nation of Israel and the last days rescue of Israel is pretty much all of the plot of the Bible. To turn against Israel, to ignore God's relationship with His people, and especially be anti Semite, will just confuse you reading Scripture and at worst get you a trip to hell. As Christians, we have been ALLOWED to be adopted into the seed of Abraham. Hatred of the Jews or even discounting their importance to the Father is a deadly undertaking. Replacement theology will account for many burning in hell the last day. Worshiping a pagan Holiday pretending you are fulfilling Lev 23 is dangerous, IMO.
Scripture says we are not to allow people to judge us on our Feast days and full moons, but you need to understand what days are what. Zech 14:16 speaks of God forcing the observance of Tabernacles in Israel once again, so it seems important to Him. We will also switch back to Saturday Sabbath, but I'm too lazy to look up the verse for you. We were NEVER told to switch from Saturday Sabbath to Sunday Sabbath by God. That was strictly a tradition of men type thing. Guess again where that came from.
I think Easter is derived from the goddess Eastra. The manuscripts don’t say easter. it says “pascha”, ie, Passover. You are correct.
Don't waste your time with non-Catholics telling you what Catholicism is.
You can read about Easter to your heart's content at the Catholic Encyclopedia. There are many links within that cover relevant topics throughout.
quote-We will also switch back to Saturday Sabbath, but I’m too lazy to look up the verse for you. We were NEVER told to switch from Saturday Sabbath to Sunday Sabbath by God. That was strictly a tradition of men type thing. Guess again where that came from.
Chuckles, the Scriptures do not record Rome’s Saturday as the ‘Sabbath’.
That is probably sourced in the Roman Catholic Church catechism, and most certainly found on the pope gregory calendar.
But not in the Scriptures.
The Scriptures record the 7th Day Sabbath.
And the Son rested in the tomb on the 7th Day Sabbath. After He completed His Work on the 6th Day, dying for our sins.
And He rose on the 3rd day, the 1st Day of the next week.
And this year, the day He completed His Work (6th Day) is commemorated on a roman pope gregory false god tiw’s day,not a roman pope gregory false goddess frig day.
One either believes in Rome’s template of the 1st importance of the gospel:
Friday-6th Day
Saturday- 7th Day
Sunday- 1st Day
or the Father’s template that Paul understood:
Passover (14th) -6th Day
Unleavened Bread (15th)- 7th Day
First Fruits (16th)- 1st Day.
I am going to guess most are in the Roman camp.
Every week on the roman calendar, Jews Muslims and Christians confirm their conformity to Rome, and not the Scriptures. Blind leading the blind.
One can live the Kingdom come here, but they will need to shrug off Roman citizenship and Roman bondage.
The entire ‘Saturday’ Sabbath is a roman tradition of men, Chuckles.
And He uses His Son’s work of Redemption to prove it. Prophetic indeed in the end times.
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