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Easter seems to be on a different date each year, but Christmas never changes, why is this?

2006-06-15 02:19:23 · 23 answers · asked by Tbaylinda 2 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

23 answers

Scripture doesn't mention Jesus's birthdate or any christians celebrating His Birthday. The only birthday mentioned besides Pharoah is the heathen king Herod. "Christmas" means "mass of Christ"; the celebration coexisted in Rome before there was any in Jerusalem. The early Roman Church however did establish a pagan festival that (Jer.10) coexisted with Jesus's Birth and that was the birthday of the sun god. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed., article: "Christmas"). The Catholic sources admit that Christmas didn't co-exist with the earliest festivals. Jesus wasn't born Christmas; even scripture makes this evident. "On the night of Jesus's birth, the shepherd's were still keeping watch over their flocks." (Luke 2:8). The rainy season in Ancient Israel began after the Feast of Tabernacles which generally is early October. In November, it would be cool and wet; the flocks from the pasture had already been brought and kept in winter quarters by the shepherds. This tells us the shepherds were no longer in the fields at night. Another peice of evidence is overlooked is in Luke 1:35-36; it tells us John the Baptist was born to Mary's cousin Elizabeth six months before Jesus. And as we look further in verse 5-17, we see Zacharias an elderly priest burning incense on the altar and then an angel appearing to him and telling him that he and his wife would have a son to prepare Christ's Way. We know however when this announcement was made by the angel because of Zacharias was "of the course of Abijah" Please look at 1Chron.24:1-19; it tells us that King David divided these priests into 24 "courses" that served in the temple by rotation. The Course of Abijah would be the 8th of the 24 courses which usually would occur around the end of May. Pentecost came the week after the 8th course served and he had to serve all 24 courses during the three festival seasons. So Zacharias came home approximately after the first week of June; in which John the Baptist was conceived around mid-June and 9 months later would be his birth. John Baptist's birth came around mid-March while Jesus's was around mid-September. Also notice every year people claim 3 wise men seen Jesus in a stable; is this really true? The Bible nowhere states "3 wise men" or "that the wise men visited Jesus in a stable". Read for yourself: (Matt.2:11); these Magi came from the east beyond the Euphrates River which in the 1st century was called the Parthian Empire (the eastern border of the Roman Empire).

I can't finish this: so you would have to see it on
http://community.webshots.com/photo/2715...


***JESUS DIED WEDNESDAY APRIL 14, 31AD

A good foundation (1Tim.6:19) has solid ground evidence. The foundation should include 2Tim.3:16; Isaiah 28:9-10; 2Peter 1:19-21; 1Thess.5:20-21 & Ephes.5:9-10,13. To understand deeply--you must use these websites:
http://www.bbmhp.org/visaids/nt/crucweek...
http://lcg.org

If you read Daniel 9:27; it says "he died in the middle of the week"; that would be Wednesday. This is followed by "3 days & 3 nights" = Matthew 12:40 which equals 1-24hr.day x 3days equals 72hrs. in grave. Next the Bible tells us it would be "after 3days and "not before = Matt.27:63-64 and Mark 8:31. It tells us in three days (John 2:19-21) and not after. The Bible also reminds us a day is 12hrs. not including the night(John 11:9-10). Remember also Gen.1:5 and Lev.23:32 tells us "evening to evening" is considered to be a day.

HEBREW CALENDAR-month of Abib or Nisan (APRIL 31AD)

Wednesday 14
Lord's Supper--Tues.Even
Put in grave Wed.Even
LEV.23:5--[14TH DAY=PASSOVER]
DAN.9:27--["DIED IN MIDST OF WEEK"]
JOHN 13:1; 18:39--[FEAST OF PASSOVER]
JOHN 19:14,31--[PREPARATION OF PASSOVER; NEXT DAY WAS A SABBATH HIGH DAY]
LUKE 22:13--[PASSOVER]
MATT.27:57--[EVENING CAME AND JOSEPH BEGGED THE BODY OF JESUS]
MARK 14:12; 15:42--[PREPARE TO EAT PASSOVER; THE DAY BEFORE THE SABBATH]]
LUKE 23:54--[SABBATH DREW ON]

Dictionary: Drew=to pull or drag. On=over & in contact with.

Thursday 15
Wed.Even= 1night
Thurs.Even=1day
Annual Sabbath
Feast of Unleavened Bread
NO WORK!
EXODUS 13:3,4,6,7--[NO LEAVENED BREAD; MONTH OF ABIB; ONLY EAT UNLEAVENED BREAD FOR 7 DAYS]
LEVITICUS 23:6-7--[15TH DAY; HOLY CONVOCATION]
MATT.27:63-64--[AFTER 3 DAYS]
**CLUE = MATT.26:5 --[NOT ON THE FEAST DAY]
ISAIAH 66:23

Friday 16
THURS. EVEN= 1 NIGHT
FRIDAY EVEN = 1DAY
PREPARATION DAY
MARK 16:1--[probably Thurs.Even--BOUGHT SPICES AFTER SABBATH]
LUKE 23:56--[PREPARED SPICES BEFORE WEEKLY SABBATH]
**NOTES--YOU HAVE TO BUY BEFORE YOU CAN PREPARE! ALSO IT TAKES ALL DAY TO PREPARE SPICES!

Saturday 17
FRIDAY EVEN=1 NIGHT
SAT.EVEN= JESUS ROSE! = 1 DAY
WEEKLY SABBATH
"SEVENTH DAY"= 7TH DAY
NO WORK!
GEN.2:2
EXOD.20:8-11
LEV.23:3
HEB.3:18-19; 4:1-11
MARK 2:27-28
REV.14:7,12
**NOTES= SABBATH IN ENCYCLOPAEDIA AMERICANA, VOL.24, PP.68-69 AND/OR DICTIONARY.

Sunday 18
SAT.EVEN
SUN.EVEN
"FIRST DAY"= 1ST DAY
GENESIS 1:5
MATT.28:1,6,13
MARK 16:6,9
LUKE 24:1,3,6
JOHN 20:1,19
**NOTE: COULDN'T OF BOUGHT BECAUSE MARY & MARY MAGDALENE WENT TO THE GRAVE AFTER THE SABBATH.
THE NEW AMERICAN ROGET'S COLLEGE THESAURUS--
DAWN=DARK, EVENING, TWILIGHT, ETC.

Now I know this is true because the MAJORITY(Matt.7:13) is always wrong. Also there's many clues that it wasn't a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection; look at 2Tim.2:18. But you will point out Mark 16:9 which says "Now when Jesus was risen[the perfect tense is correct here--he was already risen] early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene." Now the original Greek didn't have no punctuation. If the King James translators put a comma after the word "risen" and not after "week", this would make complete sense. The Centenary Translation renders it this way: "Now after his resurrection, early on the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene."

If you want more truths of the Bible.
Also I have lots of truth in different subjects in:
http://community.webshots.com/user/morri...


Also to your other question; I don't know about Easter or Christmas because they are Pagan Days.
Passover is always on the 14th of Abib on the Hebrew Calendar; but on our Gregorian Calendar; these are the dates. [I don't really understand it]. But they are correct; these are the 14th of April. I think maybe their different because the Hebrew Calendar has 360 days each year. While the Gregorian has 365 days; so I guess that's why it changes on the Gregorian Calendar.

APRIL 12, 2006
APRIL 2, 2007
APRIL 19, 2008

2006-06-15 03:35:43 · answer #1 · answered by KNOWBIBLE 5 · 13 7

Jesus wasn't born on Christmas. Following the Star of Bethleham, most believe he was born in the summer. The Dec. 25 day was part of the Christian doctrine that incorporated Pagan rituals that the church used to to help them get associated with the new religion. Dec 25 was actually the pagan Winter Festival. Easter itself follows pagan paths of the moon. There is no evidence of the day of Jesus's death b/c most stories were written 150 years after his death.

2006-06-15 02:25:07 · answer #2 · answered by Harry D 2 · 0 0

Numerous religions within the Roman Empire honored their gods' birth or rebirth on or about DEC-25. Their deities were typically called: Son of Man, Light of the World, Sun of Righteousness, Bridegroom, and Savior. Some examples within Pagan religions were the Roman god Attis, the Greek god Dionysus, the Egyptian god Osiris, and the Persian god Mithra. The Roman Emperor Aurelian blended the religious celebration of Saturnalia with a number of birth celebrations of savior Gods from other religions, into a single holy day: DEC-25. After much argument, the developing Christian church adopted this date as the birthday of their savior, Jesus. The people of the Roman Empire were accustomed to celebrating the birth of a God on that day. So, it was easy for the church to divert people's attention away from Pagan celebration and to the Jesus' birth.

The Gospel of Luke 1:5 refers to a time when Zacharias' was on duty in the Temple. From this reference, one can compute that Jesus was born in the early fall. But Luke 2:8 seems to imply that Jesus was born in the springtime when the sheep were giving birth and the shepherds were "in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night." Since nobody at the time of Aurelian still remembered when Jesus was born, DEC-25 was as good as any other day to celebrate Jesus' birth. More details.

Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similar "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [were] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos." 3 Her name was, in turn, derived from an ancient word for spring: "eastre." The timing of the Christian Easter is linked to the Jewish celebration of the Passover. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread which were observed by the ancient Israelites early in each new year. (The Jewish people followed the Pagan Persian/Babylonian calendar and started each year with the Spring Equinox circa MAR-21). Passover was the most important feast of the Jewish calendar. It was originally based on Pagan sun and moon worship. This determined its timing. It is celebrated at the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox

2006-06-15 02:37:23 · answer #3 · answered by Jax 3 · 0 0

We don't know what date Jesus was born, most believe in the spring. He died on the Friday before the the day we celebrate as Easter. Even though that date has changed over time in order to fit other cultures, the real date is the day before the Jewish passover.

2006-06-15 02:29:06 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Jesus' birthday wasn't Dec. 25 Biblical scholars place the date later in the year since Mary had to travel with Jesus that time of year would not be suitable for travel since it would be really cold among other contributing factors. It is estimated that Jesus died during the period we celebrate as Easter.

2006-06-15 02:27:12 · answer #5 · answered by Damian 5 · 0 0

We like the concept of 'dates', but there's a lot of events on the calendar that are triggered from other events, - like the start of the month, or the phase of the moon.

Jesus died on the jewish holiday called Passover. Arguable it's one of the most significant events on the jewish calendar. Since there were no such thing as christians / church, etc., there really was no such thing as Easter. I don't know how passover is calculated.

As far as Jesus being born on Dec. 25, -hah!! Jesus wasn't big on holidays, new moon, relics, magic potions, and incantations, but we sinners are. Early church leaders, hi-jacked the Pagan winter solstice and told the new converts, "you can still have your little winter solstice party, - but we'll now say it's Happy birthday Jesus".

Right or wrong, it seemed to 'stick'.

2006-06-15 02:22:24 · answer #6 · answered by MK6 7 · 0 0

before anything else, we all know that our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ was born on Dec. 25...

but, as far as i am concern, there is no account in the Holy Bible that states that Dec. 25 was the birth date of Jesus Christ. you can try it for yourself, read the Bible!!

and, some books about Ancient Rome state that Dec. 25 was the feast day of the pagans' sun god. yes, it is true.

maybe, ancient Roman Emperors decided to celebrate our Lord's birthday on the PAGANS' FEAST to "recruit" or convert pagans to Christians. and maybe, who knows, there might be some deeper reasons for that.

Jesus died, we all know, Good Friday.

but i don't know the exact date. i believe it is also not stated in the Bible.

we must accept the fact that there are a lot of confusions in our religion.

2006-06-15 02:33:48 · answer #7 · answered by nix** 1 · 0 0

Concerning the Christmas celebration as it is generally known all over the world, The Encyclopedia Americana says: "Most of the customs now associated with Christmas were not originally Christmas customs but rather were pre-Christian and non-Christian customs taken up by the Christian church. Saturnalia, a Roman feast celebrated in mid-December, provided the model for many of the merry-making customs of Christmas. From this celebration, for example, were derived the elaborate feasting, the giving of gifts, and the burning of candles."

SOME WOULD BE SURPRISED
In his book The Trouble With Christmas, author Tom Flynn set out conclusions reached after years spent researching Christmas: "An enormous number of traditions we now associate with Christmas have their roots in pre-Christian pagan religious traditions. Some of these have social, sexual, or cosmological connotations that might lead educated, culturally sensitive moderns to discard the traditions once they have understood their roots more clearly."—Page 19.

After presenting a mass of supporting information, Flynn returns to the basic point: "One of the great ironies of Christmas is how little of its content is truly Christian. Once we dispose of the pre-Christian elements, most of what remains is post-Christian, rather than authentically Christian, in origin."—Page 155.

Birth of Jesus According to the Bible
You will find reliable information about Jesus' birth in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

At Christmastime this account is often surrounded by a mythical and romantic atmosphere that obscures the most important thing: that this baby was born to be a magnificent King, as was announced to Mary and to the shepherds. No, Jesus Christ is not a baby anymore, or even a child. He is the ruling King of God's Kingdom, which very soon will eliminate all rulerships opposed to God's will, and he will solve all problems of mankind. That is the Kingdom we ask for in the Lord's Prayer.—Daniel 2:44; Matthew 6:9, 10.

Another detail should not be ignored: In the Mexican nacimiento, the baby is referred to as "the Child God" with the idea that it was God himself who came to earth as a baby. However, the Bible presents Jesus as being the Son of God who was born on earth; he was not the same as or equal to Jehovah, the almighty God. Consider the truth about this, presented at Luke 1:35; John 3:16; 5:37; 14:1, 6, 9, 28; 17:1, 3; 20:17.

Reliving Jesus' Last Days on Earth
IT IS the seventh day of the Jewish month Nisan in the year 33 C.E. Imagine that you are observing events in the Roman province of Judea. Leaving Jericho and its lush foliage, Jesus Christ and his disciples are trudging up a dusty, twisting road. Many other travelers are also on their way up to Jerusalem for the annual Passover celebration. However, more than this tiring climb is on the minds of Christ's disciples.

2006-06-15 02:34:45 · answer #8 · answered by Armerys 3 · 0 0

Jesus was not born on Dec 25th...It is celebrated on that Day the exact date cannot be proven though many believe the seasons refer to april but no one can be sure of the exact date and all is speculative.

2006-06-15 02:25:31 · answer #9 · answered by djmantx 7 · 0 0

I highly doubt that DEC 25th is the actual Birthdate of Christ.



In Western Christianity, Easter always falls on a Sunday from March 22 to April 25 inclusive. The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions. In Eastern Christianity, Easter falls between April 4 and May 8 between 1900 and 2100 based on the Gregorian date.

Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (which follow the motion of the sun and the seasons). Instead, they are based on a lunar calendar similar—but not identical—to the Hebrew Calendar. The precise date of Easter has often been a matter for contention.

At the First Council of Nicaea in 325 it was decided that Easter would be celebrated on the same Sunday throughout the Church, but it is probable that no method was specified by the Council. (No contemporary account of the Council's decisions has survived.) Instead, the matter seems to have been referred to the church of Alexandria, which city had the best reputation for scholarship at the time. The Catholic Epiphanius wrote in the mid-4th Century, "...the emperor...convened a council of 318 bishops...in the city of Nicea...They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people..."(Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47–80), De Fide). Section VI, Verses 1,1 and 1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp.471–472).

The practice of those following Alexandria was to celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the earliest fourteenth day of a lunar month that occurred on or after March 21. While since the Middle Ages this practice has sometimes been more succinctly phrased as Easter is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox, this does not reflect the actual ecclesiastical rules precisely. The reason for this is that the full moon involved (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but an ecclesiastical moon. Determined from tables, it coincides more or less with the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical rules are:

Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the day of the ecclesiastical vernal equinox
this particular ecclesiastical full moon is the 14th day of a tabular lunation (new moon)
the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is always March 21
The Church of Rome used its own methods to determine Easter until the 6th century, when it may have adopted the Alexandrian method as converted into the Julian calendar by Dionysius Exiguus (certain proof of this does not exist until the ninth century). Most churches in the British Isles used a late third century Roman method to determine Easter until they adopted the Alexandrian method at the Synod of Whitby in 664. Churches in western continental Europe used a late Roman method until the late 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne, when they finally adopted the Alexandrian method. Since western churches now use the Gregorian calendar to calculate the date and Eastern Orthodox churches use the original Julian calendar, their dates are not usually aligned in the present day.

At a summit in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, the World Council of Churches proposed a reform in the calculation of Easter which would have replaced an equation-based method of calculating Easter with direct astronomical observation; this would have side-stepped the calendar issue and eliminated the difference in date between the Eastern and Western churches. The reform was proposed for implementation starting in 2001, but it was not ultimately adopted by any member body.

Further information: Reform of the date of Easter
A few clergymen of various denominations have advanced the notion of disregarding the moon altogether in determining the date of Easter; proposals include always observing the feast on the second Sunday in April, or always having seven Sundays between the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, producing the same result except that in leap years Easter could fall on April 7. These suggestions have yet to attract significant support, and their adoption in the future is considered unlikely.

Dates for Easter Sunday, 2000-2020 Year Western Eastern
2000 April 23 April 30
2001 April 15
2002 March 31 May 5
2003 April 20 April 27
2004 April 11
2005 March 27 May 1
2006 April 16 April 23
2007 April 8
2008 March 23 April 27
2009 April 12 April 19
2010 April 4
2011 April 24
2012 April 8 April 15
2013 March 31 May 5
2014 April 20
2015 April 5 April 12
2016 March 27 May 1
2017 April 16
2018 April 1 April 8
2019 April 21 April 28
2020 April 12 April 19

2006-06-15 02:31:18 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

The celebration of Christmas and Easter are traditional festivals of the Christian church. We have adopted them to the modern calendar out of convenience.

No one can know for sure what day Christ was born or died, since accurate records from 2000 years ago do not exist.

2006-06-15 02:23:46 · answer #11 · answered by redwolf7782 3 · 0 0

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