Here is an article I wrote based on my understandings of the Passover Controversy and what is highlighted in the Church. In many ways, it may seem convincing. However, even I, being apart of the church of the time could not recognize some key points and presumptions that are made. I will highlight those presumptions, and counter claims made in this article I wrote while in the church:
The progression of the Christian Church after Christ was very promising branching out from Samaria and to the ends of the Earth. Many came to convert to the Christian faith all over the Roman Empire whether Jew or Gentile. With such growth, also came heresy and arguments as to what teachings to keep and exclude as well as what to add. Many councils and meetings were held in order to decide on these big decisions. Many changes came to arise and Contemporary Christianity for the most part does not resemble or contain the original and core teachings that the Early Church held dear. Many teachings have come out of one in particular which is based on the last meal Jesus had with his disciples.
“Christianity Through the Centuries” **by Earle E. Cairns writes briefly about many controversies in the evolving church. One is of Quartodecimanism which is the controversy about what day to celebrate the Passover which many recognize as “The Last Supper”. Originally, it was celebrated once a year on the first month of Nisan on the fourteenth day in the sacred calendar adapted from the Jewish Passover. This tradition was kept until change started to arise in the western part of the empire. During the second century, the church in Rome began to keep the Passover feast on the day of Resurrection (first sunday following the feast of the Passover). At this time, the Early Church was head by various bishops in differents areas of the empire (Eusebius 208). In 197 A.D, Bishop Victor in Rome (some may call one of the first Popes) headed the movement “endeavoured to cut off the churches of all of Asia” who celebrated the Passover on the first month fourteenth day as was passed down to them. The churches in the East were then considered heretical and were even “wholly excommunicated” but all the bishops in the west did not have say in this decision. Polycrates was a bishop of Ephesus in the East who lead the Quartodecimanism movement since it was the tradition of his forefathers. He followed the teaching of Polycarp of Smyrna who argued with “Pope” Anicetus in a similar controversy in A.D. 155. They often wrote letters to argue the subject. Polycarp is known to have been a disciple of the Apostle John himself and relation to the authority of Philip who also kept the feast as Jesus taught. The church that rose from Rome then began to spread the teaching of the supper being kept on the Sunday after the fourteenth of Nisan which later was given the name of Easter (Benedetto 495). It was then after that it was officially changed to once a year on the day of Resurrection. The quartodecimans were then called heretics after the the Council of Nicaea abolished the Passover feast in 325 A.D. which was changed to the day people tend to call Easter now. The supper also became a tradition later to be kept every Sunday instituted by the Roman Catholic Church.
Christ celebrated the Passover instead though with bread and wine. Now many churches keep similar feasts like Eucharist or Sacrament. As for Easter, it is not a surprise that the Easter tradition of bunnies and eggs didn’t come from Christ himself. The first record of Easter eggs wasn’t until even the thirteenth century and came from the Syrian goddess Astarte (Encyclopaedia Britannica 60). The Babylonian tradition of the “mystic egg” was considered sacred. The term Easter comes from the pagan festival based on the Anglo-Saxon goddess “Eostre” who is the goddess of fertility in Spring (Compton 201). The hare, or rabbit is also even the emblem of Eastre. The pagans celebrated the feast to celebrate renewal of life in spring. The Christians adapted these teachings for the celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
In contemporary and orthodox Christianity, there is and always has been a designated day of worship for most sects. This is true in the Early Church as well. The Christian Sabbath followed the Jewish Sabbath in the Law of Moses. Even Christ kept the seventh day Sabbath as mentioned in Scripture (Luke 4:16). Originally, the Christians kept the Sabbath day on Saturday. One cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church even wrote about there not being a single line in the Scriptures “authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify” (Gibbons 72). At this time, Christianity was outlawed and punishable by death. Many still kept the seventh day Sabbath until it was considered illegal to do so. If they had done it in secret, it was punishable by death.
In 313 A.D, Emperor Constantine of Rome legalized Christianity through the Edict of Milan and took initiative in the Christian faith. Constantine started converting to the Christian faith though he had the title of Pontifex Maximus meaning he is the high priest of the Roman pagan gods (Dowley 140). He started to favor Christianity and the church in Rome but it was necessary to placate the pagans. In a historical novel, “A History of the Early Church to A.D. 500”, it is written that:
“the policy agreed upon at Milan was a recognition of the complete parity of religions….as the reign progressed Constantine supported the Christians and one can only conclude that his aim was to make Christianity the cement that was to bind together the whole Empire”.
At this time there were the pagans and the Christian and division in the Roman empire. In the East headed by Emperor Licinius, had more Christians inhabitants then the West though paganism was favored. In the West and in Rome, the Church there was becoming favored and given greater status because of the emperor even though there was a dominant pagan population. This resulted with complications and division in the Church. It is very important to understand that Constantine’s previous religion was of the “Unconquered Sun” (Dowley 140). Even much of the currency produced at the time had featured the pagan gods. Constantine’s taking initiative in the Church had instituted the day of Sunday observance. In the year 321 A.D., Constantine in an edict declared that “All judges, city-people and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun”. It was set as a holiday similar to the other Roman holidays. It was made possible through “wider development in worship, and larger congregations in the Churches” (Smith 152). It is written in “The History of Christianity, Vol.II” that:
“The rescript commanding the celebration of the Christian Sabbath bears no allusion to its peculiar sanctity as a Christian institution. It is the day of the Sun, which is to be observed by the general veneration. The courts were to be closed, and the noise and tumult of public business and legal litigation were no longer to violate the repose of the sacred day (Milman 296).
This legislation did not spring from the Apostolic Christianity but from Roman law. There is no reference to the Fourth Commandment or the Sabbath. It was made for the whole empire. Dowley writes that “Constantine continued to identify the sun with the Christian God in some way”. Constantine’s influence on Christianity can even be seen through the art and displays of churches around the world. One tradition that was passed is much like the way Constantine portrayed the Christian God with the sun god as written in “The History of Christianity”:
“...a belief made easier by the tendency of Christian writers and artists to use sun imagery in portraying Christ. For them Christ is the source of light and salvation, and mosaic from a third-century tomb found under St. Peter’s Rome, even shows him as the god in his chariot. When in 321 Constantine made the first day of the week a holiday, he called it ‘the venerable day of the Sun’ (Sunday)” (Dowley 140).
It is very clear now why the Saints, Christ, Mary, etc are usually portrayed with a circle of light alluding to the sun. Also the halo seen on angels and biblical characters is of the same origin. After the time of Constantine passed, his mark on the church could not be changed as it was then heretical to keep the seventh day Sabbath. These teachings began to linger even into the Eastern churches.
The church in the West in Rome consistently was influenced by non-christian traditions of the people before the fall of Rome leading into the Dark Ages. One influence in those days has now lead to one of the most celebrated holidays all of the world whether Christian or not. It is the day people celebrate the birth of Christ known as Christmas.
Christmas comes from the term Christes Masse or “Christ’s Mass.” The date of December 25th was not set until the 4th century and a century later in the East. Lo and behold, the origin lies in the time chosen to “correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen to celebrate the ‘rebirth of the sun’”(Glolier Inc 90). The date chose was designated by Emperor Aurelian in A.D. 274 as the “birthday of the unconquered sun”. This was since at the winter solstice days become lighter longer again. However, since there wasn’t a consensus about Jesus birth day, they wanted to celebrate the feasts and worship given to the sun god and do it for the Christian one. A New York Times article writes:
“..since there was no general agreement about the exact date of the birth of Jesus (Passover was another popular suggestion), it must have seemed helpful to have it supersede the Saturnalia...So the rebirth of the sun became instead the birth of the Son of God” (Schama).
During the time around late December, this is when all these Roman pagan feasts were held. Many of the Christmas customs were extracted from these feasts. They included Saturnalia, Sigillaria, Juvenalia, and Brumalia. These were great holidays especially for slaves and children where they received gifts and lit wax tapers. Many of the customs in today’s celebration of the birth of Christ come from these pagan festivals. One includes lights which comes from obvious reasons the pagans decorated their homes with greenery and had the pine tree worship to commemorate how it does not fail to lose its needles even though it is Winter. There are others as well including the mistletoe, feasting, and many more.
The Church in Rome (evolved into what is now the Roman Catholic Church) has created many traditions that weren’t in the Early Christian Church. One they are known for is the veneration of the Virgin Mary who was declared the “Mother of God” at the Council of Trent and confirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 where Mary was made not only the mother of the physical Christ, but God himself (Americana Corp 347). Another teaching is of the cross and its image. It began Constantine as spoken of before. He claimed to have seen the Chi Ro cross in the sky (sun) and it prepared for his battle to take back Rome on the Milvian bridge. Crosses in churches were set up in 431 and the cross set on steeples (similar to Egyptian obelisks) in 508. It was in the “6th century that the crucifix image was introduced, and worship (latria) to it was sanctioned by the church of Rome” (Fausset 145). The cross also came from traditions even before the Christian era including the Ankh cross of Egypt and the cross found in Babylonian artifacts. Also, the image of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus also came from old mother-son worship with Indrani and child in India, Semiramis and baby Tammuz in Babylon, and Isis and child Horus in Egypt (Boettner 3)
One Early Church teaching that was kept by many for a long time was where the women wore veils during worship as found in scripture (1st Corinthians 11:1). It wasn’t until recent centuries women advocated to not wear the veil and men began to wear hats and caps on their head in worship.