Posted on 04/21/2011 1:47:18 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Earth Day instead of Easter? 16 mins ago
Some Catholics are concerned with what they see as an attempt by environmentalists to hijack Easter for their own Earth Day purposes.
In a letter dated April 1 to churches across the country, the environmentalist group Earth Day Network encourages priests to remember Earth Day Sunday, even though Easter is that same Sunday.
“This year we again invite you to celebrate Earth Day Sunday and share with your parishioners a story of creation care that will impart to them the importance of protecting a nurturing the planet that was provided to us,” the letter reads. “Earth Day Sunday is a great way to bring your parish together through community building and sharing the faith with those in the community while improving the world around us.”
The letter does add that if priests want to celebrate Easter instead, they could consider delivering a climate change sermon on the following Sunday. Michael Voris of REAL Catholic TV, however, is not buying it, calling the campaign a push for a “pagan takeover of Easter”
“Earth Day 2011 falls on Friday, April 22, which is Good Friday so on the following Sunday, which is two days later, the Earth Day Network wants Catholic priests all over the country to devote their homily to Earth Day. Slight problem, the next Sunday, the one after Good Friday, is Easter,” Voris said. “Imagine going to mass to hear about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead only to be told to go clean up a park.”
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
a list of celebrities who comprise Earth Day Network’s global advisory committee. Among those listed are Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, independent Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders, Barbara Streisand, and Ted Turner.
“.... if priests want to celebrate Easter instead ...” It would be difficult for these people to be more UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT! What a collection of morons.
My youngest child has all kinds of projects for Earth Day; I’ve never seen aything like it before. I told him it was for people who stopped believing in God; I was being completely truthful, and he knew it.
When Christ said “do this in memory of me” He was celebrating Passover and instructing them to remember Him as the Passover Lamb.
I won’t claim to know a tally of how many Christian churches prattle on about Easter without ever making clear the Passover angle. But to the extent such churches exist, they are doing a disservice in this regard.
Mixing in eggs, bunnies and Earth worship would not be a minor additional disgrace.
Although.... imagining Lennon in an Earth green bunny suit working all day on a Sunday laying chocolate eggs for the consumption of capitalist kids, for some strange reason, brightens my day.
To most Christians, tomorrow is “in the Earth” Day ... by God’s grace and despite our unworthiness, the Lord rose from it on the Third Day, which we commemorate.
the thought must be on everyone’s mind today, lol. Interesting follow-up:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2708611/posts
“Christians celebrated an Easter/Passover festival by the second century, if not earlier. It follows that the Christian Easter/Passover celebration, which originated in the Mediterranean basin, was not influenced by any Germanic pagan festival.”
It appears you believe the pseudepigraph, Book of Jubilee. Sorry, not my faith. Those of us who believe in the Good Word of the New Covenant will be rejoicing in commemoration of our Savior rising from the dead on the third day, and to all who share that faith I say, HAPPY EASTER!
Ezekiel 8:13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. 14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
In Jeremiah 7:17-20 you can read what God thinks of people worshiping the "queen of heaven." In verse 20 God said that His anger and fury shall be poured out upon man, beast, trees of the field and the fruit of the ground. God goes on to say in verse 20 that "it shall burn, and shall not be quenched." All this for worshiping Ashtoreth which is the Old Testament name for Eastre which is where the word easter comes from. What God is telling us here is that people who know that easter is a pagan festival are not going to receive His blessings if they take part in it. What about going to an easter sunrise service? In Ezekiel 8:15-18 we are told that God thinks that is an abomination. Worshipping the sun is a form of idolatry.
I went to Home Depot today to return a used refrigerator filter that they passed off as new. There was a sign on the door that they will be closing at 6 PM on Easter so their employees can spend time with their families. There were signs all over the place about the Earth Day demonstrations they’ll be having all weekend. I won’t be shopping at Home Depot any more.
Thanks for that - a good read. The Christian Church though did co-opt a lot of customs when they went into a new country - not altogether a bad thing to replace what was pagan unless the lines got blurred which did happen in a lot of South American cultures.
Mel
WHAT??? You can't be serious. If we worship God at sunrise, that is not worshiping the sun.
It is really annoying when those who know nothing about Christianity try to de-educate Christians.
islam is a satanic death cult.
quaran is truly the book of satanic verses.
“It is finished!”
It’s interesting that you attack me personally rather then point to scripture that condones Easter. I pointed to scripture that condemns the practices and rituals of Easter started long ago by Semiramis after the death of her son Tamuz. There are many instances in scripture where God warns of adopting the pagan practices. Rather then attack me why don’t you do some study on the history of Easter. You have been warned.
Oh noes! We have been warned to stop worshiping God on Easter! Who will protect us from the wrath of CynicalBear?
You won’t see any wrath from me. I’m not affected by what you believe. God told us to be watchmen and if we keep silent we are held responsible. If we warn people and they don’t listen it’s their problem and no longer ours.
Why don't you read some of the New Testament and learn about the New Covenant God made with his people. You will learn that this covenant is based on love and not fear. Why don't you join in the hundreds of millions of Christians who will be rejoicing this Sunday in celebration of Jesus, the Son of God, arising from the dead, as he promised. You will feel much better if you just accept that Jesus came to save everyone and dwell less on what pagans did thousands of years before He redeemed us.
I hope you will find peace in the love of God.
Happy Easter.
That isn’t God telling you to quote Him out of context, spread lies, and warn others to stop worshiping Him on Easter. God’s wrath is not yours to direct, and He won’t direct it toward His children for worshiping Him.
That is a wonderful message. Inspired, and inspiring. Happy Easter!
You want New Testament and beyond? Sure!
Jesus was taught by His parents to keep the Spring Holy Days (Luke 2:41–42). He was still keeping those same Holy Days with His disciples before His death (Luke 22:1–11)— although in a new spirit (see vv. 14–20). Jesus instructed His disciples to "follow Me" (Matthew 4:19). This is why, years later, we find the Apostle Paul urging the Corinthian church to "keep the feast"—referring to the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:7–8). In the book of Acts we see Paul, some 20 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, still keeping not only the weekly Sabbath (Acts 17:2, 18:4), but the annual Holy Days (Acts 18:21), and using the Holy Days as benchmarks to indicate important times of the year (Acts 20:6). Paul and the other Apostles were taught by Jesus Christ to keep the Holy Days. They continued to teach what He had commanded them to teach (Matthew 28:19–20).
The historian Edward Gibbon records that the Apostolic church "united the law of Moses with the teachings of Jesus Christ" (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. 15). The early church fled from Jerusalem when the Romans destroyed the city in 70AD. After languishing for over 60 years in Pella, "a considerable part of the congregation renounced the Mosaic law" which the church had observed for over a century (ibid.). This was done not to obey God, but to gain admission to the new Roman colony that Hadrian established at Jerusalem, which forbade admission to Jews (or to those whose religious practices would make them appear Jewish). Gibbon indicates that a major part of the early Jerusalem church compromised their beliefs in order to cement their union with the emerging universal Christian church (ibid.).
This sentiment against anything that appeared to be Jewish continued to build throughout the first several centuries of the New Testament church era. Under the influence of the Apostle John, the churches in Asia Minor continued to observe the Passover on the 14th of Nisan, while churches in the western part of the Roman Empire began to observe Easter.
We read of an encounter (in 159AD) between Polycarp (the Bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of John) and Anicetus (the Bishop of Rome), in which Polycarp argued successfully against dropping the Passover observance on the 14th of Nisan in favor of Easter. However, about 40 years later, Victor, the bishop of Rome, excommunicated Polycrates, a leader of the church in Asia Minor (and a disciple of Polycarp) for refusing to go along with Easter observance—which was becoming the accepted custom in Christendom. At the time of Polycrates (about 200AD), the churches in Asia Minor were the only ones still keeping the Passover on the 14th of Nisan instead of Easter. They did so because they were taught to do this by the Apostle John, who had been trained by Jesus Christ. This debate over keeping Passover on the 14th of Nisan or observing Easter is called the Quartodecimian controversy. It was finally settled by the Roman Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD when it was decreed that the Christian world would keep Easter and "that none should hereafter follow the blindness of the Jews" (Encyclopædia Britannica 11th ed., Easter). However, remnants of the Apostolic Church that kept the Holy Days continued to exist on the fringes of the Roman Empire—but these Christians, though faithful to Apostolic Christianity, were branded as heretics.
The lesson of history is that a church council, presided over by a sun-worshipping Roman emperor who was converted to nominal Christianity on his deathbed, simply overruled the Scripture and disregarded the clear example and teachings of Jesus Christ and the historical record of the Apostles.
Of course I’m sure you could point to scripture for proof that Jesus or the Apostles changed things to celebrate Easter. Right?
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