Happy Easter

Manunkind wrote: Reed Lover wrote: Manunkind wrote: Please everyone, stop the theological debating, good grief, this is supposed to be a 'good-wish' thread, not a battleground for everyone's beliefs and Buddha vs Jesus contests... A warm, peaceful Holidays spent in the best of company to everyone here from me. Let them debate waht they want! it is the only way to learn Well, I don't know, I'm religious myself and my religion forbids me to discuss religion since such discussion almost always has some very unreligious consequences...

Damned if you do and damned if you dont.........

maani wrote: Manunkind may be referring to three Scriptural passages: "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things."  (Romans 14:1) That is, if a "teacher" is seen to be disputatious with a "student," the former will be doing the latter far less good. "Nor give heed to fables and endless geneologies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith."  (1 Tim 1:4) And, perhaps most particularly: "But avoid foolish disputes, geneologies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.  Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition."  (Titus 3:9-10) Thus, while Christians can and should engage in discussion and conversation about faith and faith issues, it is critical, as Manunkind correctly suggests, that Christians not permit themselves to "devolve" into "disputes" or "contentions," at which point they only do more harm than good. Re JrKASperov's question re "rebuke," he is probably referring to one of three passages: "Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear." (1 Tim 5:20) The application of this is to brothers and sisters in Christ, not to non-believers. "Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority.  Let no one despise you." (Titus 2:15) And, especially: "Preach the word!  Be ready in and out of season.  Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside by fables."  (2 Tim 4:2-4) Peace.

Of course we'd better not mention the glaring contradictions to be found by mix and matching those quotes Maani.

The bible is a hotchpot of half-baked philosophy and hangs its hat on every mythology that has ever done the rounds of popular consciousness.

As for being the word of God~oh dear.

And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night:

Nuff said really.

Certif1ed wrote: Easter is a festival that isn't for any particular group; my understanding is that pascha (or at least, the concept) is not only part of ancient Egyptian festivities, but of Teutonic, Sumatran - in fact just about all Western cultures and probably a lot of Eastern cultures. As I noted in another Easter thread in Main Discussions, there is a Goddess of fertility who is recognised in dozens of cultures by different names. If we simply understand the Goddess to BE fertility, and "grow" the concept, then the common link becomes more apparent. In short - from the little I know about it, it's a really, really ancient global celebration of moving on, reproducing and just being alive. The fact that it's global means that we're all united in this single thing, and the moving on, reproducing and being alive bit suggests that this one simple thing could become as many more simple things as we want to let it.

It shouldnt really be global,Cert as it is a pagan celebration of Spring,hence the allusion to rebirth.As you know when it is Spring in the Northern Hemisphere it is Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

I like Easter,

The Traditions of Easter

As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication.

Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival.

The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner.

It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.

As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.

The Date of Easter

Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a caveat must be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is the ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.

The Lenten Season

Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a celebration, sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world, on the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to "get it all out" before the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the focal point of Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S. Read about the religious meanings of the Lenten Season.

The Cross

The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection. However, at the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, Constantine decreed that the Cross was the official symbol of Christianity. The Cross is not only a symbol of Easter, but it is more widely used, especially by the Catholic Church, as a year-round symbol of their faith.

The Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.

The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.

The Easter Egg

As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians.

From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.

Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or chocolate candy.

Copyright © 1998-2001 by Jerry Wilson. Get permission to reprint this article.

Easter is the greatest Christian celebration;Christ has died ,Christ is risen, Christ will come again.Christ conqeured death to free mankind from sin.The message is simple for those who believe.A holy Easter to all on here and a happy one to those who don't.

                           Pax  Vobiscum

                                                      John

^AND WHILE YOU ARE AT IT REED LOVER COULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT YOU MEAN BY "HALF BAKED PHILOSOPHIES"

AND GIVE EXAMPLES OF FULL BAKED PHILOSOPHIES AND WHY YOU CONSIDER THEM TO BE MORE VALID.

WITH RESPECT

maani wrote: "Nor give heed to fables and endless geneologies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith."  (1 Tim 1:4)

So are we to believe the Adam and Eve fable and the Noah's Ark fable,or give them no heed?

Oh no you cant discuss it can you,because it will cause "dispute".

fancy that!

But don't forget that Easter Sunday was originally a Pagan festival - i.e. you don't have to be a Christian to celebrate it.

Who needs an excuse to celebrate anyway?