Posted on 04/03/2007 6:31:28 AM PDT by DouglasKC
This thread is tainted by XeniaSt's offensive rhetoric. I'm staying off this thread.
When you ask someone not to post to or about you - then you must return the favor and not post to or about him.
With all due respect, you should be criticizing him for his rhetoric before criticizing me for talking about him.
An atheist for instance might come on this thread and say that Christ was just a man and God is an illusion of hope, a "pink unicorn" (one of terms they are wont to use.) He could make such a claim, and I would expect the posters here to make mincemeat of it without making it personal.
He said that Christianity worshiped the Devil for 2 millennia.
That's unacceptable. He deserves no courtesy-pings.
So ignore him and refute the allegation to “all” without mentioning him.
Later all Roman Emperors held the title Pontifex Maximus. Emperor Constantine held the title from 306 to 337 AD Constantine convened the Nicene Council in 325 AD and issued this edict: ON THE KEEPING OF EASTER. From the Letter of the Emperor to all those not present at the Council.
from DOCUMENTS FROM THE FIRST COUNCIL OF NICEA [THE FIRST ECUMENICAL COUNCIL] A.D. 325 Emperor Constantine, Emperor of the Roman Empire He had issued an Edict making Sunday the day of rest In 321 CE, while a Pagan sun-worshiper, the Emperor Constantine
They ruled: "Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day."
The Roman Office of the Pontifex Maximus began in 712 BC
b'shem Yah'shua
(Found in Eusebius, Vita Const., Lib. iii., 18-20.) When the question relative to the sacred festival of Easter arose, it was
universally thought that it would be convenient that all should keep the
feast on one day; for what could be more beautiful and more desirable,
than to see this festival, through which we receive the hope of
immortality, celebrated by all with one accord, and in the same
manner? It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the
holiest of all festivals, to follow the custom [the calculation] of the
Jews, who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and
whose minds were blinded. In rejecting their custom,(1) we may
transmit to our descendants the legitimate mode of celebrating Easter,
which we have observed from the time of the Saviour's Passion to the
present day[according to the day of the week]. We ought not,
therefore, to have anything in common with the Jews, for the Saviour
has shown us another way; our worship follows a more legitimate and
more convenient course(the order of the days of the week); and
consequently, in unanimously adopting this mode, we desire, dearest
brethren, to separate ourselves from the detestable company of the
Jews, for it is truly shameful for us to hear them boast that without
their direction we could not keep this feast. How can they be in the
right, they who, after the death of the Saviour, have no longer been led
by reason but by wild violence, as their delusion may urge them? They
do not possess the truth in this Easter question; for, in their blindness
and repugnance to all improvements, they frequently celebrate two
passovers in the same year. We could not imitate those who are openly
in error. How, then, could we follow these Jews, who are most
certainly blinded by error? for to celebrate the passover twice in one
year is totally inadmissible. But even if this were not so, it would still
be your duty not to tarnish your soul by communications with such
wicked people[the Jews]. Besides, consider well, that in such an
important matter, and on a subject of such great solemnity, there ought
not to be any division. Our Saviour has left us only one festal day of
our redemption, that is to say, of his holy passion, and he desired[to
establish] only one Catholic Church. Think, then, how unseemly it is,
that on the same day some should be fasting whilst others are seated
at a banquet; and that after Easter, some should be rejoicing at feasts,
whilst others are still observing a strict fast. For this reason, a Divine
Providence wills that this custom should be rectified and regulated in a
uniform way; and everyone, I hope, will agree upon this point. As, on
the one hand, it is our duty not to have anything in common with the
murderers of our Lord; and as, on the other, the custom now followed
by the Churches of the West, of the South, and of
the North, and by some of those of the East, is the most acceptable, it
has appeared good to all; and I have been guarantee for your consent,
that you would accept it with joy, as it is followed at Rome, in Africa,
in all Italy, Egypt, Spain, Gaul, Britain, Libya, in all Achaia, and in the
dioceses of Asia, of Pontus, and Cilicia. You should consider not only
that the number of churches in these provinces make a majority, but
also that it is right to demand what our reason approves, and that we
should have nothing in common with the Jews. To sum up in few
words: By the unanimous judgment of all, it has been decided that the
most holy festival of Easter should be everywhere celebrated on one
and the same day, and it is not seemly that in so holy a thing there
should be any division. As this is the state of the case, accept joyfully
the divine favour, and this truly divine command; for all which takes
place in assemblies of the bishops ought to be regarded as proceeding
from the will of God. Make known to your brethren what has been
decreed, keep this most holy day according to the prescribed mode; we
can thus celebrate this holy Easter day at the same time, if it is granted
me, as I desire, to unite myself with you; we can rejoice together,
seeing that the divine power has made use of our instrumentality for
destroying the evil designs of the devil, and thus causing faith, peace,
and unity to flourish amongst us. May God graciously protect you, my
beloved brethren.
This is the Decree from the first Pontiff of the Roman church to all the world.
declared that Sunday was to be a day of rest throughout the Roman Empire: "On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest,
Council of Laodicea circa 364 CE ordered that religious observances were
and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture
may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day
is not suitable for gain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment
for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost."
to be conducted on Sunday, not Saturday. Sunday became the new Sabbath.
Okay, I gotta keep saying this because it's not getting through to people.
The name "Easter" has nothing to do with Ishtar. Easter apparently (it's not absolutely certain) came from the Germanic goddess of the dawn, Eostre. There are technical linguistic reasons why "Ishtar" didn't turn into Easter.
Easter is only called by a name derived from Eostre in English and German. That's it. In Greek, it's called Pascha, a name obviously derived from the Hebrew pesach, or Passover. The word in Latin and all Romance languages comes from the Greek. Even many Germanic languages use a word derived from Pascha (Dutch and Norwegian, for example), and some Germans call it "Paisken" instead of "Ostern". Slavs call it "Bright Night", and the following week, "Bright Week".
Not only are there technical linguistic reasons why Ishtar didn't turn into Easter, but there are obvious geographic ones: how is it that the English worship "Ishtar" but nobody else between England and Mesopotamia does?
The official name of the festival, as far as the Catholic Church is concerned, is Dominica Resurrectionis ("Lord's Day of the Resurrection"), the first day of the 8-day Festa Paschalis ("Passover Feast").
The Ishtar=Easter foolishness comes from Alexander Hislop. He had no credentials to make that claim (like the rest of his nonsense) and was merely positing a guess based in anti-Catholic bigotry and bad scholarship.
Why do you keep repeating this foolishness?
There is no edict related to the Council of Nicea (325 AD) which had anything to do with Easter or Sundays.
There was a 321 edict forbidding work (except agricultural work, which was the work of the great majority of folks) on Sundays.
Further Constantine was present only for the first day of the Council of Nicea and long gone by the time:
Separation of Easter from the Jewish Passover
After the June 19 settlement of the most important topic, the question of the date of the Christian Passover (Easter) was brought up. This feast is linked to the Jewish Passover, as the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus occurred during that festival. By the year 300, most Churches had adopted the Western style of celebrating the feast on the Sunday after the Passover, placing the emphasis on the resurrection, which occurred on a Sunday. Others however celebrated the feast on the 14th of the Jewish month Nisan, the date of the crucifixion according to the Bible’s Hebrew calendar (Leviticus 23:5,John 19:14). Hence this group was called Quartodecimans, which is derived from the Latin for 14. The Eastern Churches of Syria, Cilicia, and Mesopotamia determined the date of Christian Passover in relation to the 14th day of Nisan, in the Bible’s Hebrew calendar. Alexandria and Rome, however, followed a different calculation, attributed to Pope Soter, so that Christian Passover would never coincide with the Jewish observance and decided in favour of celebrating on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, independently of the Bible’s Hebrew calendar.
According to Duchesne,[15] who founds his conclusions:
on the conciliar letter to the Alexandrians preserved in Theodoret;[16]
on the circular letter of Constantine to the bishops after the council;[17]
on Athanasius;[18]
Epiphanius of Salamis wrote in the mid-4th Century, “… the emperor … convened a council of 318 bishops … in the city of Nicea. … They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God’s holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people…”[19]
The council assumed the task of regulating these differences, in part because some dioceses were determined not to have Christian Passover correspond with the Jewish calendar. “The feast of the resurrection was thenceforth required to be celebrated everywhere on a Sunday, and never on the day of the Jewish passover, but always after the fourteenth of Nisan, on the Sunday after the first vernal full moon. The leading motive for this regulation was opposition to Judaism, which had dishonored the passover by the crucifixion of the Lord.”[20] Constantine wrote that: “… it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul. … Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Saviour a different way.”[21] Theodoret recorded the Emperor as saying: “It was, in the first place, declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because, their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded. … Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries. … avoiding all contact with that evil way. … who, after having compassed the death of the Lord, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them. … a people so utterly depraved. … Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the murderers of our Lord. … no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews.”[22]
The Council of Nicaea, however, did not declare the Alexandrian or Roman calculations as normative. Instead, the council gave the Bishop of Alexandria the privilege of announcing annually the date of Christian Passover to the Roman curia. Although the synod undertook the regulation of the dating of Christian Passover, it contented itself with communicating its decision to the different dioceses, instead of establishing a canon. There was subsequent conflict over this very matter. See also Computus and Reform of the date of Easter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea
Campion says not to use wiki
Do you deny that Constantine as the Roman Emperor was not the Pontiff of the Roman Empire's religion ?
i’ll keep that in mind when responding to Campion (though there are no reputable sources which place Constantine at the Council after the first day nor are there any which attribute the Constantine’s edict with regard to Sundays to the Council which occured 4 years after this law was in effect)
Constantine was never a pontiff, Hosius of Cordoba was Pope during the time of Constantine. Further Roman Catholicism was not made the state religion until after Constantine’s death.
correction Hosius of Cordoba was the representative of the Pope at the council. (The Pope was Pope St. Sylvester I)
I recommend you re-read my post # 87
we speak english here
and the fact that you orthodox don’t call it easter is further evidence that it’s a germanic language thing
that’s just sheer prejudice on your part. facts are stubborn things.
it’s called passover in the bible
No. The Roman Empire's state religion was paganism until Theodosius the Great, AD 380 ... 55 years after Nicaea. Constantine was the ex officio head of the Roman state pagan religion.
your post 87 misrepresents the linked document which references pontiff only once and never while reffering to constantine
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