Basic HTML Version
day death and supposed Sunday
resurrection of Nimrod, the false
pagan savior.
In the great apostasy that swept
through the New Testament world
in the latter part of the first cen–
tury, this pagan Good Friday-Eas–
ter Sunday tradition was falsely
applied to the death and resur–
rection of the true Savior, Jesus
Christ. lt was made to appear
Christian.
This teaching became especially
popular in the area around Rome.
But in Asia Minor, where the apos–
tle Paul had established churches,
the New Testament Passover con–
tinued to be observed on Nisan
14.
The
Britannica
article " Easter"
states: "Generally speaking, the
Western Churches [Catholic] kept
Easter on the first day of tbe week,
while the Eastern Churches [con–
taining most of those who remained
as part of the
TRUE
Christian
Church] followed the Jewish rule
[observing Passover on 14 Nisan,
the first month of the sacred
Hebrew calendar]."
This difference soon Jed to seri–
ous controversy. Gradually the
G reek and Asían churches began to
succumb to the pagan tradition .
This same article in
Britannica
states: "Polycarp, the disciple of
John the Evangelist, and bishop of
Smyrna, visited Rome in 159 to
confer with Anicetus, the bishop of
that See, on the subject, and urged
the tradition
which he had received
from the apost/e
of observing the
14th day. Anicetus, however ,
declined."
The story doesn't end bere!
"About fort y years later [A.D.
197] the question was discussed in
a very different spirit between Víc–
tor, bishop of Rome, and Polyc–
rates, metropolitan of proconsular
Asia [the ter ritory of the churches
established by the apostle Paul].
That province was the only portion
of Christendom which sti ll adhered
to the Jewish [the writer should
have said "true Christian"] usage.
"V íctor . dem a nded that
al/
should adopt the usage prevailing
at Rome. This Polycrates firmly
refused to agree to, and urged
many weighty reasons to the con–
trary, whereupon Víctor proceeded
to excommunicate Polycrates and
March 1982
the Christians who continued the
Easter usage [that is, Goo's way].
He was however, restrained [by
other bishops] from actually pro–
ceeding to enforce the decree of
excommuni cation . . . and the
Asiatic Churcbes retained their
usage unmolested. We find the
Jewish [the true Chr istian] usage
from time to time reasserting itself
after tbis, but it never prevailed to
any large extent."
Tt
did, however, crop up from
time to time as an irksome and
annoying issue that caused disunity
in the professing Christian Church.
When the pagan Roman Emperor
''
Was Christ resur-
rected on a Sunday?
Have you ever proved
it from the Bible? And
what has the Easter
rabbit to do with
Christ's resurrection?
''
Constantine convoked the Council
of Nicea in A.D. 325 he ordered
the bisbops to settle tbe matter
once and for all. lt was one of the
two big issues of the council.
Counc il Confirma Roman Usage
At the time of the Nicean Council,
the Syrians and the Antiochenes
were the only defenders of the
observance of the 14th day. T hey
stood little chance!
" The decision of the council was
unanimous
that Easter was to be
kept on Sunday, and on the same
Sunday throughout the world, and
that 'none hereafter should follow
th e blindness of the Jews' "
(ibid.).
I n the spiritually darkened
minds of those at the council, any–
thing that was biblical-anything
that God commanded-was "Jew–
ish."
The bishops at N icea so ab–
horred anytbing they thought to be
Jewish that they "decided that Eas–
ter Day should always be on a Sun–
day, but never at the same time as
the feast of the Jews. If the 14th
N isan feJI on a Sunday, Easter Day
was transferred to the foJlowing
Sunday" (Burns,
The Council of
Nicea,
page 46).
" For how," explains Constan–
tine, "could we who are Christians
possibly keep the same day as those
wicked Jews?"
(Arian Contro–
versy,
Gwatkin, page 38).
So strong was the anti-Jewish
fee l ing that pork or ham- an
abomination to the Jews- was
deliberately eaten on Easter to
show utter contempt for anything
J ewish. In this case the Jewish way
also happened to be
God's
way as
revealed in the Bible.
Thus the Nicean Council–
regarded by the world as one of the
great milestones of Christianity–
condemned observance of the New
Testament Passover, one of God's
most sacred memorials, without
even Iooking into the Bible! And by
"violence and bloodshed"-as his–
tory shows (Hislop, page 107)- the
observance of the pagan Easter was
enforced in its place.
Does l t Make Any Difference?
But sorne will say: "Yes, 1 know
that Easter has
a
pagan origin, and
1
can plainly see that Christ was
not resurrected on a Sunday. But as
long as we keep Easter in a Chris–
tian spirit as a kind of remem–
brance of Christ's resur rection,
what difference does it make?"
The answer to this question
depends purely a nd s imply on
whether or not God exists.
If
there
is no God, then, of course, it makes
absolutely no difference whatsoev–
er.
But if there is a living God in
heaven- and you can absolutely
PROVE
that there is-and if that
God says it makes a difference to
H IM,
then it had better make a dif–
ference to you, too!
There is nota single word in the
Bible telling us to observe Easter.
lnstead, God thunders,
" LEARN
NOT
the way of the heathen" (Jer.
10:2). And any encyclopedia will
tell you that Easter is a paga n festi–
val, long antedating Cbristianity.
More detailed proof is available in
our surprising free booklet
The
Plain Truth About Easter.
Are
you
go ing to obey
God? o
4 1