A Tradition of Men

[Davy]

@Eloy Craft asked if I could provide one example of a tradition from men in past history of the Church. Here is one...

Acts 12:4
4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
KJV

That word "Easter" in red is not the actual word in the Greek New Testament texts. It is the Greek word 'pascha' (NT:3957). Look it up if you don't believe me. In the majority of New Testament translations, it is translated either to "passover", or to "feast of unleavened bread".

So HOW did that word Easter creep into the KJV Bible?

It originally came from the old pagan ritual of Eostre worship, a spring festival the pagans did involving sexual fertility. As many pagans converted to Christ, the early Church allowed them to keep usage of the name, but not the pagan rites.

The actual timing of Christ's crucifixion was according to the passover requirement of the evening sacrifice. That is why Apostle Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 5:7, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:".

Another tradition of men got started also with the wrong timing of Christ's crucifixion, i.e., the idea that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, which is an idea that goes against Apostle Paul calling Jesus our Passover Lamb sacrificed for us.

 

[Eloy Craft]

@Eloy Craft asked if I could provide one example of a tradition from men in past history of the Church. Here is one...

Acts 12:4
4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
KJV

That word "Easter" in red is not the actual word in the Greek New Testament texts. It is the Greek word 'pascha' (NT:3957). Look it up if you don't believe me. In the majority of New Testament translations, it is translated either to "passover", or to "feast of unleavened bread".

So HOW did that word Easter creep into the KJV Bible?

It originally came from the old pagan ritual of Eostre worship, a spring festival the pagans did involving sexual fertility. As many pagans converted to Christ, the early Church allowed them to keep usage of the name, but not the pagan rites.

The actual timing of Christ's crucifixion was according to the passover requirement of the evening sacrifice. That is why Apostle Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 5:7, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:".

Another tradition of men got started also with the wrong timing of Christ's crucifixion, i.e., the idea that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, which is an idea that goes against Apostle Paul calling Jesus our Passover Lamb sacrificed for us.

There is a measure of truth.
What did Jesus consider a man made tradition? What did Jesus condemn? The traditions or the abuse of tradition.

 

[prodromos]

It originally came from the old pagan ritual of Eostre worship, a spring festival the pagans did involving sexual fertility.

Seeing as the ONLY historical reference we have regarding even the existence of some obscure goddess named Eostre comes from the 8th century work by Venerable Bede, in which he only mentions the name, that is nothing is said about what form their festivals took, EVERYTHING in the details you have posted is completely made up.

 

[JM]

The traditions of men are those traditions that contradict the inscripturated word of God. The rest are fine.

 

[prodromos]

The traditions of men are those traditions that contradict the inscripturated word of God. The rest are fine.

This usually translates to "traditions of men are those traditions that contradict my denominations interpretation of Scripture"

 

[Jonaitis]

Another tradition of men got started also with the wrong timing of Christ's crucifixion, i.e., the idea that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, which is an idea that goes against Apostle Paul calling Jesus our Passover Lamb sacrificed for us.

Well, I want to hear your explanation. Did Jesus eat the Passover with His disciples, as Matthew states? Or was Jesus crucified on the Passover as the Passover Lamb, as John states?

 

[JM]

This usually translates to "traditions of men are those traditions that contradict my denominations interpretation of Scripture"

The Scribes and Pharisees insisted they had a perfect tradition protected by God from the error of men. We find a parallel in some major denominations today.

Somethings never change.

 

[BravoM]

@Eloy Craft asked if I could provide one example of a tradition from men in past history of the Church. Here is one...

Acts 12:4
4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
KJV

That word "Easter" in red is not the actual word in the Greek New Testament texts. It is the Greek word 'pascha' (NT:3957). Look it up if you don't believe me. In the majority of New Testament translations, it is translated either to "passover", or to "feast of unleavened bread".

So HOW did that word Easter creep into the KJV Bible?

It originally came from the old pagan ritual of Eostre worship, a spring festival the pagans did involving sexual fertility. As many pagans converted to Christ, the early Church allowed them to keep usage of the name, but not the pagan rites.

The actual timing of Christ's crucifixion was according to the passover requirement of the evening sacrifice. That is why Apostle Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 5:7, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:".

Another tradition of men got started also with the wrong timing of Christ's crucifixion, i.e., the idea that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, which is an idea that goes against Apostle Paul calling Jesus our Passover Lamb sacrificed for us.

So in effect, God took the pagan holiday and removed the false god, pagan, beliefs, and now Easter is nothing more than a trademarked, commercial, profit holiday with some "magical" bunny who poops candy. Way to stick it to the pagans.

 

[The Liturgist]

So in effect, God took the pagan holiday and removed the false god, pagan, beliefs, and now Easter is nothing more than a trademarked, commercial, profit holiday with some "magical" bunny who poops candy. Way to stick it to the pagans.

I will say that in my youth, the easter eggs and Easter Bunny helped interest me in the holiday, and my family attended the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday services. And Easter Sunday was such a gorgeous day, I believed in the Resurrection then and I still do today.

Likewise the presents on Christmas helped interest me in the Nativity, and my family always attended the Christmas Eve service, then exchanged presents, and then on Christmas morning there were additional presents given in the spirit of St. Nicholas and St. Basil the Great. It was beautiful.

So all of these things I think can be beneficial provided they are kept in proportion.

I still remember my beautiful grandmother singing this beautiful hymn:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed Him to the cross?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the cross?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
Were you there when they nailed Him to the cross?

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble,
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

I wonder how it's possible to avoid the formation of tradition within any Church, at least any Church that wants to leave something behind. Many Protestants seem to feel as if all we need to do is have the bible, but that leaves a lot of things out and it presumes the spirit has not been present in the lives of Christians in the past, guiding the Church as she had to address new challenges.

 

[Davy]

Well, I want to hear your explanation. Did Jesus eat the Passover with His disciples, as Matthew states? Or was Jesus crucified on the Passover as the Passover Lamb, as John states?

The following reveals the 'last supper' was not... the actual passover feast eating of the passover lamb. It was held the night before the feast.

Six Days Before the Passover (John 12:1) - Appendix to the Companion Bible

The Exodus 12 requirement for killing the passover lamb was on Nisan 14th in the evening. This was called the 'preparation day'.

(The Hebrew reckoning for a day was used, from sunset to sunset, not our Gregorian system from midnight to midnight. This is one of the main errors made with those not understanding this.)

Mark 14:12-18
12 And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, His disciples said unto Him, "Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?"
13 And He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and saith unto them, "Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
14 And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, 'The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples?'"
15 And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.
16 And His disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as He had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
17 And in the evening He cometh with the twelve.
18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with Me shall betray Me."
KJV

Luke 22:7-13
7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.
8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat."
9 And they said unto Him, "Where wilt Thou that we prepare?"
10 And He said unto them, "Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.
11 And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, 'The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples?'
12 And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready."
13 And they went, and found as He had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
KJV

Nisan 14th had started just after sunset Nisan 13. That night is when they ate the passover, before the lamb was killed. This makes sense because Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that Jesus, our Passover, was sacrificed for us, meaning Jesus' time of crucifixion and death on the cross was to be timed with the passover requirement for killing the passover lamb at evening on Nisan 14.

John 19:13-14
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, 'Behold your King!'
KJV

John 19:30-31
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished": and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.
31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
KJV

Nisan 14, was the preparation day, and day of the crucifixion. Nisan 14 began at the previous sunset. So the last supper happened the night of Nisan 14, and the Judas left to betray Jesus after the supper, and then the soldiers came to the garden to arrest Jesus, and then the trial began lasting into the day of Nisan 14 until Jesus was crucified, and Jesus died at the time of the evening per the passover lamb requirement. Then sunset was quickly soon to come, and they rushed to bury the body of Lord Jesus, because no work was to be done after sunset, for Nisan 15 was to be 'high day', a sabbath per the passover in addition to the regular weekly sabbath.

This is also where many have erred about the sabbath during that week, not understand there were TWO sabbath days that week, one required per the first day of the passover on the first day of the feast, and then the regular weekly sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. This is why both Mary's had to wait until Sunday morning to bring the spices to finish Jesus' burial, because they had to rush the evening of Nisan 14 on the preparation day to bury Jesus' body and didn't get to finish.

 

[Davy]

So in effect, God took the pagan holiday and removed the false god, pagan, beliefs, and now Easter is nothing more than a trademarked, commercial, profit holiday with some "magical" bunny who poops candy. Way to stick it to the pagans.

Some think I'm just joking about all this. I am not. The following of pagan idolatry has been a major problem in Israel's history ever since they left Egypt. Those who pay attention to those Old Testament histories discover the children of Israel were not the creators of all the pagan chaos, but it was the children of darkness and workers of iniquity that crept in among them that caused most of it, like the "tares" Jesus warned us about.

I assure you also, the "tares" are here on Christian forums to try and counter what I'm saying about this too.

Why did God scatter the northern ten tribe "kingdom of Israel" per 2 Kings 17? Anyone ever read that? Why did God split old Israel into two separate kingdoms in Solomon's day because of what Solomon allowed involving paganism, per 1 Kings 11? Anyone ever read that? What did God say in Hosea that He would do to the "house of Israel" for forgetting Him, and instead going after their Baal idols? Anyone ever read that?

Some of you brethren might think about taking time to study a bit of history about the western nations. Before The Gospel was sent to them, what were they doing? They were following idol worship, and each country and people had their own name for it and their false gods, and rituals. But when The Gospel was preached to them, most of them began to put away their Baal idols and converted to Christ Jesus, and thus began the history of the western Christian nations.

 

[BravoM]

Why does God do anything?
As flawed humans with limited brain capacity to understand Him and so many things we can at best get facts and infer some things.
They had exposure and experiences we didn't as well as temptations like free online inappropriate content and women walking around almost nude. They didn't have GQ for women to ogle men over nor Women's Fitness for men.
Likely, they had such exposure to God than thousands of years later.

 

[DragonFox91]

Seeing as the ONLY historical reference we have regarding even the existence of some obscure goddess named Eostre comes from the 8th century work by Venerable Bede, in which he only mentions the name, that is nothing is said about what form their festivals took, EVERYTHING in the details you have posted is completely made up.

The point is Eostre nor Easter was the word in the original text

 

[DragonFox91]

I wonder how it's possible to avoid the formation of tradition within any Church, at least any Church that wants to leave something behind. Many Protestants seem to feel as if all we need to do is have the bible, but that leaves a lot of things out and it presumes the spirit has not been present in the lives of Christians in the past, guiding the Church as she had to address new challenges.

Most things Protestants disagree on are pretty minor. The idea they are preaching thousands - or even just a handful - of gospels & have thousands - or even just a handful - of interpretations is nonsense & propaganda.

 

[BravoM]

The point is Eostre nor Easter was the word in the original text

It is not mentioned in the Bible.
"Eostre is not in the Bible. There is only one reference to Eostre, and that is an eighth-century book by Bede, who tells us that she was a goddess once worshiped by the Saxons with special feasts held in the month of April. Anything else you hear about the subject is speculation."

 

[DragonFox91]

It is not mentioned in the Bible.
"Eostre is not in the Bible. There is only one reference to Eostre, and that is an eighth-century book by Bede, who tells us that she was a goddess once worshiped by the Saxons with special feasts held in the month of April. Anything else you hear about the subject is speculation."

Nor Easter

 

[Davy]

I often wonder... that God allowed man to add the word "Easter" to The New Testament King James Bible as a type of reminder of how old Israel fell away from Him to idol worship. I believe Christ's Church should be observing a Christian passover for the event of Christ's death and resurrection. That since Apostle Paul said, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

 

[prodromos]

The point is Eostre nor Easter was the word in the original text

Which is a non point since the originals are in Greek. None of the words we are communicating with now are in the original text. The English word "Easter" is derived from the Old Teutonic German word for "resurrection". In many languages the word for "rise" is synonymous with the word for "east". The sun 'easts' in the morning and 'wests' in the evening

 

[BravoM]

It's not since pagans have been wiped out through all of history. Nothing will change.