"Easter's not a Christian holiday"?

[Talie]

NOWHERE else in the world is it refered to as easter

LOL....nowhere other than where exactly?

 

[Spawn]

The English speaking countries of the world.

 

[missionette]

So this is about Easter not being a Christian holiday!!??Thats totally wacko! Easter is(what i concider to be)the most important day in the Christian faith! If God wasnt sacrificed, then what is this faith based upon? I think whoever said that Easter wasnt important to our faith needs to reorganize their "Christian priorities"! I hope that everyone that has a personal relationship with Christ realises the true importance of the sacrifice of the Lamb!
God Bless!
Missionette

 

[Talie]

yeah, well the english speaking countries of the world are problably the only ones to call a shoe a shoe too LOL

 

[Spawn]

yeah, well the english speaking countries of the world are problably the only ones to call a shoe a shoe too LOL

Talie - but that is my point. People go nuts and try to say that the Feast of Easter is of pagan origins - why? Because they are very ethnocentric. If we use a word that sounds pagan for the feast - it must be a pagan feast.

WORSE - they are quick believe evil of their forefathers.

 

[holo]

So this is about Easter not being a Christian holiday!!??Thats totally wacko! Easter is(what i concider to be)the most important day in the Christian faith! If God wasnt sacrificed, then what is this faith based upon? I think whoever said that Easter wasnt important to our faith needs to reorganize their "Christian priorities"! I hope that everyone that has a personal relationship with Christ realises the true importance of the sacrifice of the Lamb!
God Bless!
Missionette

The thing is if you believe in Jesus that doesn't mean you have to keep a festival or two. Festivals are good, holidays are good. But Jesus doesn't depend on times and places. Jesus is the alpha and omega of our faith. It doesn't matter if you celebrate easter in april or may or whatever.

The problem is that our faith in Jesus too often gets crammed into holidays and cultures and churches, at the expense of the LIFE He wants us to live. You don't have to wear a suit to be a christian, if you know what I mean.

Celebrate easter every day.

 

[getreal52]

In the church of Christ we have Elders who are in charge of their local Church. Each Church is run by their Elders and therefore could have different views on "Traditions". But you will find them pretty much the same of Doctrine. As with others we may vary on things like version of the Bible we read, clapping in songs, powerpoint...etc. But when it comes to things like Baptism we all pretty much agree.

As far as celebrating Easter or Christmas you will find some of us will and some will not, but it's just a choice. We don't judge others over it.

At our Church we do celebrate both.

 

[godsgirl4ever]

Easter is a christian hoilday cause thats when Jesus got out of the tomb .

 

[Highland Watchman]

Ah, you're probably right. I don't care too much for neither pagan or Jewish things, only Jesus.

But remember this: Jesus was a Jew. And by forgetting or forsaking this fact, you are missing the point of who Jesus was, which is an integral part of his message and ministry...

Easter is a "Christianized" pagan holiday, yes. And the common symbols that we have are worshiping the Babylonian fertility goddess, Ishtar (also known as Asherah in the Old Testament)... Eggs, rabbits, and lilies are considered holy to Ishtar, and yes... they adopted this ritual when the church became the "official" religion of the Roman empire, in order to make Christianity "sociably acceptible" to the rest of the Roman Empire, which was predominantly pagan. Christmas is the same - it used to be Saturnalia, but was changed to Christmas... Same with Samhein/Halloween, which became All Saints Day, or Beltane (May 1), which later became Labour Day... Just for some information on these celebrations that we have in our own day.

Passover is a Jewish celebration, yes. And it is from Passover that we get the Lord's Supper from, as they were celebrating Passover when Jesus was executed, and also when he rose from the dead. Passover is Scriptural, and I fully see the legitimacy of observing it, even though I do not personally (as I am not a Jewish believer)... However, there is much symbolism and significance in Passover that points straight to Christ.

My issue with denominations like the Church of Christ is that they forsake traditions simply because they are traditions and throw out the old simply because it is old. History is forgotten, and any intellectual pursuit is discouraged. Historical and textual context are also forgotten, which robs Scripture of its meaning and true significance. For this reason, I am not surprised that it was a Church of Christ group that decided to forsake speaking about the Resurrection on Easter weekend.

I do agree with one thing, though. It does not matter what day we celebrate our Lord, but rather that all days are meant to be filled with worship and remembrance. However, as was already pointed out, if there was someone from outside the church visiting on that Sunday and hoping to hear what this celebration is all about, then it could have potentially been a bad witness of the Christian church, which saddens me deeply.

Also, someone said that culture, church, and traditions only get in the way of the life God calls us to live. I very much disagree. But rather, it is through our culture that Christ lives in us. And there is much life and memory in the traditions, which gives us a sense of history and belonging to something that is truly bigger than our myopic vision of ourselves and our relationship with the world. If we forget where we have come from, we forget where we are going, and those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. Tradition, if applied properly and understood for its significance, keeps us in touch with what has gone on before, shows us God's working through history, and gives us hope for our own day (as well as the future). Culture is rich... it is also the lens through which we view things, even how we view Scripture and what God chooses to emphasize. Go to a culture different than your own, and you will see this... not just the "weaknesses" of the others, but also their strengths... also, through this, you will be able to see the weaknesses of your own culture and realize just how limited your own lens just happens to be.

God be with you all.

 

[cbk]

My issue with denominations like the Church of Christ is that they forsake traditions simply because they are traditions and throw out the old simply because it is old. History is forgotten, and any intellectual pursuit is discouraged. Historical and textual context are also forgotten, which robs Scripture of its meaning and true significance. For this reason, I am not surprised that it was a Church of Christ group that decided to forsake speaking about the Resurrection on Easter weekend.

Some men have special days that they observe, and others treat all days the same. This is a fact and scripturally acceptable.

Now, my question to you is WHY would a church have to go with the flow and preach that Christ Jesus was raised on a day that other Christians observe when it is an established fact that such day is not correct????

Consider Easter in 2005. This was in March because it is the established day of most Christians. But, in actuallity, it is more reasonable to state that Jesus was crucified on the 14th of Nisan and rose on the 16th of Nisan (or even the 17th of Nisan). Therefore, since today -- April 26th, 2005 -- is the 17th of Nisan, why did not congregations meet today or yesterday and celebrate Christ's resurrection??? Did you???? Or did you do so in March? Why in March and not during the fullmoon of the month of Nisan??

16th of Nisan?
17th of Nisan?
Easter on the Gregorian calendar?

Which day is it?
Does it even matter???

 

[Simon_Templar]

there are deffinetly pagan traditions that were overlayed by christian ones. This doesn't lessen the christianness of those holidays, nor does it make it pagan to celebrate them. If you really want to get into it, there probably isn't a single day of the year which does not have some pagan significance somewhere in the world.

Now, granted we don't want to water down our christian celebration with non christian traditions, and I don't, despite the fact that I celebrate easter on easter. If you don't like using the name easter, don't. call it Pascha instead.

Now, there are many things like bunnies and eggs and santa etc that get thrown into popular cultural celebrations... remember that not all of this is "false religion" if bunnies represent fertillity in a culture, or eggs do, what does it matter? Every culture on earth was "pagan" until they received the gospel.. does that mean that every tradition from every culture is evil?

there is also a big problem with either misinformation, or misrepresentation of information on alot of these topics... probably the worst is halloween. The information usualy presented about halloween in christian circles is largely made up or so twisted as to be unrecognizable from the actual facts.

Another problem is that the traditions people drag up and accuse us of celebrating usualy end up bringing into question too much. For example
It is said that bunnies and eggs were sacred to Ishtar... BUT Doves were also sacred to Ishtar.. does this mean that all the christian dove symbols are worshiping ishtar?
Also, in condemnation of easter many peopld drag up stories about nimrod and semiramis (which are mostly untrue) which tend to paint the picture that the catholic church is just a continuation of ancient babylonian religion, because it says that the mother child cult (mary and jesus) is a rehashing of semiramis and tamuz, BUT if you really look at this whole story, it not only calls that into question, it also calls into question the very death and resurection of Jesus Christ.

Highland watchman, i wanted to point out that this post was not directed at you at all. I thought your post was reasonable and well stated. It just brought this old rant of mine to mind in regards to what I have often heard from people over the years.

 

[ChristianMuse]

Some men have special days that they observe, and others treat all days the same. This is a fact and scripturally acceptable.

agreed

Now, my question to you is WHY would a church have to go with the flow and preach that Christ Jesus was raised on a day that other Christians observe when it is an established fact that such day is not correct????

Consider Easter in 2005. This was in March because it is the established day of most Christians. But, in actuallity, it is more reasonable to state that Jesus was crucified on the 14th of Nisan and rose on the 16th of Nisan (or even the 17th of Nisan). Therefore, since today -- April 26th, 2005 -- is the 17th of Nisan, why did not congregations meet today or yesterday and celebrate Christ's resurrection??? Did you???? Or did you do so in March? Why in March and not during the fullmoon of the month of Nisan??

16th of Nisan?
17th of Nisan?
Easter on the Gregorian calendar?

Which day is it?
Does it even matter???

It only matters if people are trying to forget or water down the Jewish influence in what Jesus has accomplished. Though if dates can be assessed correctly I would think it should take precedence over wrong ones. I guess people are just trying to make the event and date of no Jewish significance. That I would consider to be wrong.

 

[nicodemus]

To be honest i think we should make more of remembering the death and resurrection. I think, for Christians anyway, that it should be bigger than Christmas! After all it was this event that forgave all our sins so we could live eternally in heaven!

This is very much the case in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Pascha (as we call it in English too) is by far the highest and holiest holiday to us.

 

[InnerPhyre]

This is very much the case in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Pascha (as we call it in English too) is by far the highest and holiest holiday to us.

For Catholics as well

 

[AliceSOBEstudent]

At my non-denominational Church they made a HUGE outreach effort around Easter. Because no matter what those who like to debate theology and study historical influences, calendar cycles, etc may think- the nominal Christians out there are walking around thinking that Easter is an important Christian Holiday. It may be the only time they plan to go to Church all year. I think churches should take advantage of the opportunity to present a full gospel on the "most well attended" church Sunday of the Year. Utilizing an awesome opening to save souls is far more important than a legalistic interpretation of the importance or not of celebrating on a certain day.

 

[Kripost]

Well, this coming Sunday is Easter/Pascha, and unfortunately, there is no parish for me to go to.

 

[nicodemus]

Well, this coming Sunday is Easter/Pascha, and unfortunately, there is no parish for me to go to.

Sorry to hear that. Where are you located?

This is the first Pascha I've ever been away from my home parish, but that can't diminish from the joy of celebrating the Resurrection!

 

[Kripost]

Sorry to hear that. Where are you located?

This is the first Pascha I've ever been away from my home parish, but that can't diminish from the joy of celebrating the Resurrection!

I am in Malaysia. There are no Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic parishes in the whole country, and only one Oriental Orthodox parish (Syro-Malankara), which uses the Gregorian calendar. The closest Orthodox parish is about 5 hours away in Singapore.

 

[nicodemus]

I am in Malaysia. There are no Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic parishes in the whole country, and only one Oriental Orthodox parish (Syro-Malankara), which uses the Gregorian calendar. The closest Orthodox parish is about 5 hours away in Singapore.

Ahh. Well, if you ever make it to Singapore, say hello to Fr. Daniel for me (he's the priest of the lone Orthodox Church there.) We've communicated quite a bit through email.

Also, do you receive The Censer? It's the Orthodox magazine of Asia put out by the Metropolinate of Southeast Asia. It's free and I'm sure they'd add you to the mailing list. I've never even been to Asia and I receive it!

 

[Kas]

very ofen people believe that the church needs to change to reach to reach out to people and in terms of form and structure it does...however...changing ones firmly held and recognisable beliefs is folly as we live in an age of 'identity'....people are drawn to strong identities!

Liberals' often think they have the answer...yet those churches that have embraced liberal views are the ones shrinking the fastest!

I think the principle reason why the church struggles here in western Europe is notpurely an internal issue but also external...peoples minds are bombarded with so much as are there lives...and due to the consstruct of society...these issues are pragmatically more essential that Christian life is pushed to the peripheries!

Add to that the polemical nature of Liberal Modernity, and the cancer of liberal ideology in the church and we have a problem!

I think that Christians need to develop a more robust sense of Christian idenitity and Christian politic to deal with these issues...we need to reign in capatalism and once more subjugate the state to Christ! We also need to say: hey I am a Christian, not a denomination, not a nationality, and aim to make the world Christian rather than preserve our own recieved patch...ie being conservative in any given country or rooting for a denomination against others!!

those are my thought!

Kas.