"Easter” Why didn’t Jesus Christ leave instructions regarding its observance?
The Catholic Encyclopedia’s frank admission in the article on Easter says:
[Easter] is also the oldest feast of the Christian Church, as old as Christianity,
the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments.
That [the apostolic fathers do not mention it] and that we first hear of it principally
through the Controversy of the Quartodecimans are purely accidental”
Easter. —The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v),
relates to Eôstre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring,
https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/easter#III._PECULIAR_CUSTOMS_OF_EASTER_TIME
Catholic Encyclopedia states that Easter is first mentioned in connection
with the “controversy of the Quartodecimans,”
This theological battle was called the Quartodeciman Controversy.
Polycarp was a disciple of John the Apostle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarp
Polycrates contended, as Jesus and the original apostles taught,
that the Passover should be observed in the new Christian form
introduced by Jesus and by the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 11),
using unleavened bread and wine instead of sacrificing a lamb,
on the eve of the 14th Nisan (first month in the sacred calendar,
occurring in the spring).
But [the Rome church] insisted that it be observed on a Sunday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartodecimanism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_controversy
-
Polycrates followed after Polycarp and Irenaeus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycrates_of_Ephesus
Polycrates is best known for his letter addressed to the Roman Bishop Victor
who was attempting to find a consensus about the proper date to celebrate Easter,
-
“Ecclesiastical history preserves the memory of three distinct phases
of the dispute regarding the proper time of observing Easter. …
“A letter of St. Irenaeus … shows that the diversity of practice regarding Easter had
existed at least from the time of Pope Sixtus (c. 120). Further, Irenaeus states that
St. Polycarp, who, like the other Asiatics, kept Easter on the 14th day of the moon
[Passover], whatever day of the week that might be, following therein the tradition
which he claimed to have derived from St. John the apostle, came to Rome c. 150
about this very question, but could not be persuaded by Pope Anicetus to relinquish
his Quartodeciman observance [on the 14th day of the month]. …
“The second stage in the Easter controversy centers round the Council
of Nicaea (a.d. 325)” (“Easter Controversy,” ibid.).
Passover, observed annually on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, was observed
by all the early Christians. About 100 years after Christ’s death, Pope Sixtus of Rome
began making the switch to Easter Sunday, while Polycarp—appointed bishop of the
Church of Smyrna by the apostles who had been personally instructed by Jesus Christ
—continued to keep Passover just as the Apostle John had taught him.
A controversy calling for the annual Sunday observance of “Easter” continued for
almost 200 years, until Easter was officially adopted by the church at Rome at the
time of Constantine in a.d. 325. The decision of the Council of Nicaea in that year
was unanimous; Easter was to be kept on the same Sunday throughout the world,
and that “none hereafter should follow the blindness of the Jews” in keeping Passover.
This decision was not based upon scriptural grounds but upon the personal preferences
of the church leaders at that time.
Those few who continued to keep the Passover on the 14th day, according to biblical
commands, were named “Quartodecimani” and were forced to separate themselves
from the unity of that church backed by the Roman Emperor Constantine.
As a result, the politically backed church at Rome grew to great size and power by
adopting the popular Easter practice centered on Sunday worship, while those who
practiced the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ and the early apostles were
destined to become persecuted outcasts.
-
Pagan Traditions: So how do colored eggs and hot cross buns
fit into this pagan festival adopted by the Catholic Church?
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/2299.20.0.0/religion/christianity/whats-so-sacred-about-easter
-
Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years
I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
The Catholic Encyclopedia’s frank admission in the article on Easter says:
[Easter] is also the oldest feast of the Christian Church, as old as Christianity,
the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments.
That [the apostolic fathers do not mention it] and that we first hear of it principally
through the Controversy of the Quartodecimans are purely accidental”
Easter. —The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v),
relates to Eôstre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring,
https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/easter#III._PECULIAR_CUSTOMS_OF_EASTER_TIME
Catholic Encyclopedia states that Easter is first mentioned in connection
with the “controversy of the Quartodecimans,”
This theological battle was called the Quartodeciman Controversy.
Polycarp was a disciple of John the Apostle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarp
Polycrates contended, as Jesus and the original apostles taught,
that the Passover should be observed in the new Christian form
introduced by Jesus and by the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 11),
using unleavened bread and wine instead of sacrificing a lamb,
on the eve of the 14th Nisan (first month in the sacred calendar,
occurring in the spring).
But [the Rome church] insisted that it be observed on a Sunday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartodecimanism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_controversy
-
Polycrates followed after Polycarp and Irenaeus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycrates_of_Ephesus
Polycrates is best known for his letter addressed to the Roman Bishop Victor
who was attempting to find a consensus about the proper date to celebrate Easter,
-
“Ecclesiastical history preserves the memory of three distinct phases
of the dispute regarding the proper time of observing Easter. …
“A letter of St. Irenaeus … shows that the diversity of practice regarding Easter had
existed at least from the time of Pope Sixtus (c. 120). Further, Irenaeus states that
St. Polycarp, who, like the other Asiatics, kept Easter on the 14th day of the moon
[Passover], whatever day of the week that might be, following therein the tradition
which he claimed to have derived from St. John the apostle, came to Rome c. 150
about this very question, but could not be persuaded by Pope Anicetus to relinquish
his Quartodeciman observance [on the 14th day of the month]. …
“The second stage in the Easter controversy centers round the Council
of Nicaea (a.d. 325)” (“Easter Controversy,” ibid.).
Passover, observed annually on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, was observed
by all the early Christians. About 100 years after Christ’s death, Pope Sixtus of Rome
began making the switch to Easter Sunday, while Polycarp—appointed bishop of the
Church of Smyrna by the apostles who had been personally instructed by Jesus Christ
—continued to keep Passover just as the Apostle John had taught him.
A controversy calling for the annual Sunday observance of “Easter” continued for
almost 200 years, until Easter was officially adopted by the church at Rome at the
time of Constantine in a.d. 325. The decision of the Council of Nicaea in that year
was unanimous; Easter was to be kept on the same Sunday throughout the world,
and that “none hereafter should follow the blindness of the Jews” in keeping Passover.
This decision was not based upon scriptural grounds but upon the personal preferences
of the church leaders at that time.
Those few who continued to keep the Passover on the 14th day, according to biblical
commands, were named “Quartodecimani” and were forced to separate themselves
from the unity of that church backed by the Roman Emperor Constantine.
As a result, the politically backed church at Rome grew to great size and power by
adopting the popular Easter practice centered on Sunday worship, while those who
practiced the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ and the early apostles were
destined to become persecuted outcasts.
-
Pagan Traditions: So how do colored eggs and hot cross buns
fit into this pagan festival adopted by the Catholic Church?
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/2299.20.0.0/religion/christianity/whats-so-sacred-about-easter
-
Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years
I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.