How Easter was used against the Sabbath

[reddogs]

I hope this is a study in a area which leads to good discussion and is something that uplifts and edifys. So lets look at this and see what we find as it came about when I was on a forum discussing the Sabbath, when a curious post was made that made me stop and try to understand what it said. The member basically posted that he was going to go on the day of the celebration of the communion no matter what, so at first I thought it was something on Passover. It took me a bit to understand he meant the first day or more directly the rites and rituals of Easter Sunday which Catholics claim is the communion instituted by Christ at the last supper. Yet, the rites they call the Eucharist is not from the last supper, but from the festival of Easter. And it is their claim that on it, the bread and wine used in the Mass actually become the body and blood of Christ. So lets back up and look at the origin of Easter a bit.

Easter is a pagan festival that many are not aware of, or have not seen its origin from history. So then if Easter isn't really about Jesus, then what is it about? For the most part, you will find its secular culture celebrating the spring equinox, with many Christian thinking it came from the resurrection of Christ. However, if you go through history you will find that it is from the pagan celebrations or festivals consisting of the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) . While names for each festival vary among diverse pagan traditions, the solstice spring festival was allowed to creep in to the church and it made a acceptance of this ancient pagan practices, of what today is known as Easter. The general symbolic story of the death of the son (sun) on a cross (the constellation of the Southern Cross) and his rebirth, overcoming the powers of darkness, was a well worn story in the ancient world.

The Sumerian goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, was hung on a stake, and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld. The Cybele cult flourished on today's Vatican Hill. They held that Cybele's lover Attis, was born of a virgin, died and was reborn annually. This spring festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, rising to a crescendo after three days, in rejoicing over the resurrection. There was violent conflict on Vatican Hill in the early days of Christianity between the Jesus worshippers and pagans who quarrelled over whose God was the true, and whose the imitation. Christianity came to an accommodation with the pagan Spring festival and used it to bring in unconverted pagans. Although we see no celebration of Easter in the New Testament, the church in Rome celebrated it and used its power to spread it throughout Christiandom, and today we see many churches offering "sunrise services" at Easter, an obvious pagan solar celebration.

All the things about Easter are pagan, the fertility rites with rabbits and the exchange of eggs is an ancient custom, celebrated by many cultures. Hot cross buns are very ancient too. In the Old Testament we see the Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it. The early church clergy also tried to put a stop to sacred cakes being baked at Easter. In the end, in the face of defiant pagans, they gave up and it swept into the church as it fell into apostasy and turned many who came in back to their old pagan system and against the true believers which it then persecuted.

Easter is essentially a pagan festival which was celebrated with gifts and the ancient symbolism still is held by those who call themselves pagan followers and unfortunately by many Christian.

 

[reddogs]

In 195 A.D., Victor, bishop of Rome, tried to force all of the eastern church leaders to keep the annual celebration of Christ's resurrection on Sunday. Of course, the bishops of the other churches protested, insisting that if done at all, the Biblical precedent for this was on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan [Ex 10,12,14, Lev 23:5].

But Victor would not consider this, and had the boldness to write letters "ex-communicating" all leaders and churches that refused to do as he said. He declared all the churches of Asia to be apostates because they would not follow his example in the matter. Back in those days, some churches were more influential than others, but none were "over" the others. Now, prior to this Victor, as the bishop of Rome, had entered into a compact with Clement of Alexandria, on about 190, to carry on 'research around the Mediterranean basin' to secure support to help make Sunday the prominent day of worship in the church. Sunday was already a day exalted among the heathen, being a day on which they worshiped the sun; yet Rome and Alexandria well knew that most of the churches throughout the world sanctified Saturday as the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Fourth, when Victor I, pronounced excommunication on all the churches of the East who would not with him make Easter always come on Sunday, Alexandria supported this first exhibition of spiritual tyranny by the bishop of Rome.

What Victor tried to do in 195 AD. was not sanctioned in any way by scripture. This was probably the first time in history that the bishop of Rome attempted to gain control over all the other churches, and commenting on it, Dr. Bower, in his History of the Popes, volume 1, page 18, calls it "The first essay of papal usurpation." In simple language, we would call it, "the first attempt at papal takeover." A careful study of the historical records reveals that gradually, with the passing of the years, the Roman bishop tended to use his new day, Sunday, as a ploy for political supremacy over the other churches. Victor's decree was the first ecclesiastical Sunday Law of any kind, in history. The festival on Easter controversy continued, with the Eastern churches giving it stiff opposition until the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., at which time Sunday was declared the official day for Easter observance. Emperor Constantine immediately followed this, the same year, with civil enactments enforcing it among the churches.

 

[reddogs]

The other Christian leaders saw the danger of worship according to the old pagan festivals and tried to stop it in what came to be known as Paschal/Easter controversies. We can find in history as the Quartodeciman controversy.

Eusebius of Caesarea (Church History, V, xxiii) wrote:
"A question of no small importance arose at that time [i.e. the time of Pope Victor I, about A.D. 190]. The dioceses of all Asia, according to an ancient tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon [of Nisan], on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should always be observed as the feast of the life-giving pasch (epi tes tou soteriou Pascha heortes), contending that the fast ought to end on that day, whatever day of the week it might happen to be. However it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this point, as they observed the practice, which from Apostolic tradition has prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the Resurrection of our Saviour." So the bishop of Rome began the practice of fixing the celebration of Passover for Christians on Sunday and it spread through the old areas of the Empire.Polycarp the disciple of John the Apostle who was now the bishop of Smyrna, came and confronted Anicetus, the Bishop of Rome who had allow the changes in the Passover and other changes to bring in converts.According to Irenaeus, around the 150s or 160, Polycarp visited Rome to discuss the differences that existed between the other centers of Christianity in Asia and Rome "with regard to certain things" and especially about the time of the Pasch or Passover which in Rome were now the Easter festivals. Irenaeus says that Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, observed the fourteenth day of the moon, whatever day of the week that might be, following therein the tradition which he derived from John the Apostle. Irenaeus said that on certain things the two bishops speedily came to an understanding, while as to the time of the Pasch and the change to Easter, each adhered to his own custom. Polycarp following the eastern practice of celebrating Passover on the 14th of Nisan, the day of the Jewish Passover, regardless of what day of the week it fell while the bishop of Rome let it be observed on Sunday.

Here is from Wikipedia where I am a editor...
"Quartodecimanism (from the Vulgate Latin quarta decima in Leviticus 23:5,[1] meaning fourteenth) refers to the custom of early Christians celebrating Passover beginning with the eve of the 14th day of Nisan (or Aviv in the Hebrew Bible calendar).

The modern Jewish Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread is seven days, starting with the sunset at the beginning of Nisan 15. Judaism reckons the beginning of each day at sunset, not at sunrise as is the ancient custom in European traditions. The biblical law regarding Passover is said to be a "perpetual ordinance" (Exodus 12:14), to some degree also applicable to proselytes (Exodus 12:19).

Regarding the chronology of Jesus, some claim the Gospel of John (e.g., 19:14, 19:31, 19:42) implies that Nisan 14 was the day that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem and that the Synoptic Gospels instead place the execution on the first day of Unleavened Bread (Matthew 26:17). In Ancient Israel the first day of Unleavened Bread was on Nisan 15 and began a seven-day feast to the Lord (Leviticus 23:6). By the time of Christ, many customs in regard to the festival had changed, notable among them the intermixing of the two festivals in some customs and terminology. The eight days, passover and the feast of unleavened bread, were often collectively referred to as the Passover, or the Pesach Festival.[2][3]"...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartodecimanism

So the Bishop of Rome ignored the warning and continued to allow the Passover to be observed on Sunday at the pagan Spring Equinox festival, so this is how the Pasch was change to the festival of Easter, and of course Sunday came in as the day each time it was observed.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Sunday is Firstfruits day, on the morrow after the weekly Sabbath during Passover week. Then counting 7 Sabbaths after that to the morrow after the 7th Sabbath is also a Sunday (Feast of Weeks), hence the reason dates were not given for those days in Leviticus 23 like the other holy days. That said, the Sabbath is the Sabbath (which is what I keep weekly) whereas the other two are annual observances which the church, for whatever reason tried to make them into weekly Sabbaths. Firstfruits technically speaking is not a Sabbath (aka Easter) but Pentecost(Feast of Weeks) is. So there is biblical provision to celebrate Firstfruits (Easter) and Pentecost, but again, that ought to be a yearly celebration. Like you, I don't like the name Easter, but I always said it should be called Firstfruits. Literally, Jesus is the First of the Firstfruits as the church is also the Firstfruits (Feast of Weeks) of His salvation.

Gentile Christians disassociated historically with Jews and along with some Gentile beliefs came the Gentile calendar which in the case of the church is either Julian or Gregorian - there are no months ("moonths") but in name only. It's strictly a solar calendar and would work well without the moon. Along with that came a day that starts in the middle of the night instead of sundown. At what hour does Firstfruits on the Hebrew calendar begin? And Jesus was already raised by then because as soon as the Sabbath was over, the women rushed to the grave and the Bible even says it was dark yet. So Jesus arose Sabbath as it was ending. But with the Gentile calendar and time keeping I can see how that got misconstrued to be Sunday dawn.

Ironically, the church was insightful enough to base Easter timing on the way the Hebrew calendar is kept (for Passover). I joke that Easter (or Firstfruits) and Pentecost are the only two feasts that are usually timed right. The rest they do not know or keep at all. The birth date of Jesus Christ "coming up" is all wrong compared to what the Bible says and so are other things timed. Instead of the Autumn feasts, a typical Protestant church will have in their bulletin "the 5674th Sunday after Pentecost" - I'm exaggerating of course but you get the idea. They don't know what time or season it is that the apostle Paul wrote about as such statements go past the autumn feasts when the next timing event is long past Pentecost.

To conclude, despite the disparity, more and more churches are at least looking to the prophetic meaning and purpose of mankind's salvation with God's timing in Leviticus 23. Nevertheless, tradition dies hard, so all the other holidays will still be wedged in there and I suspect for a long time to come - maybe that was the Lord's plan to bring the Gentile church back to their Jewish brethren by the timing of the feast of Hanukkah near to Christmas?

 

[donadams]

Two forgotten verses!

Jn 15:5 eph 5:24

Do you believe scripture is the only authority or the apostolic tradition referred to above?

 

[donadams]

Do these issues rise to the level of faith & morals or are they only disciplines, under the ordinary administration of the church?