Basic HTML Version
Easter
(Continued from page 16}
year. l t is interesting also, that in
early times, the Easter "bonnet" was
a wreath of ftowers or leaves. The
circle or crown expressed the round
sun and its course in the heavens
which brought the return of spring"
(A Treasury of American Supersti–
tions,
p. 362).
Yes, the Easter Parade and the
Easter bonnet also have roots in
heathen traditions! They have noth–
ing to do with the crucifixion and
resurrection of Christ!"
God's will regarding religious cus–
toms is summed up in one command,
"Learn not the way of the heathen"
(J eremiah 10:2)! We should not cele–
brate Easter with all of its pagan
trappings.
Following Jesus' lnstructions
"But,' ' sorne will say, "we use Easter
Sunday to commemorate once every
year the resurrection of Jesus. Cer–
tainly that is biblical."
No, actually it is not! J esus told his
disciples to commemorate His
death
once a year on the occasion of the
Passover-not His resurrection!
Christ's resurrection is to be exem–
plified
every
·day of the year in the
lives of Christians (John 14:19; Gala–
tians 2:20).
Too many people have it back–
wards. They remember Christ's res–
urrection one day out of the year.
And the rest of the year they go
about their daily lives unaware that
Christ is a live-as though He is still
dead.
The Apostle Paul told gentile
Christians, "For as often as you eat
the bread and drink the cup [once a
year on the evening of the Passover] ,
you proclaim the Lord's
death
[not
His resurrection] until he comes"
(1 Corinthians 11:26, RSV).
There is no command or example
in the Bible to justify the celebration
of Eáster.* The evening before His
crucifixion, Jesus esta blished the
*Someone is sure to bring up Acts .1 2:4 in the
King James Version of the Bible. Here the
translators erroneously used the word
Easter.
All
other serious translations of the Bible,
Catholic a nd Protestant alike, cqrrectly use
the word
Passover
in this verse.
March 1980
New Testament P assover for Chris–
tians (Matthew 26:19) . He com–
manded His true followers down
through the ages, " This
do,
in
remembrance of me" (I Corinthians
11:25) .
His instructions were faithfully
followed by the early Christian
Church, as history proves.
Notice what the
Encyclopaedia
Britannica,
11th edition, article
"Easter," says: "There is no indica–
tion of the observance of the Easter
festival in the New Testament or in
the writings of the Apostolic Fa'–
thers. ... The first Christians con–
tinued to observe the Jewish festi–
vals, though in a new spirit, as
commemorations of events which
those festivals had foreshadowed.
Thus the Passover, with a new con–
ception ad.ded to it, of Christ as the
true Paschal Lamb and the first–
fruits from the dead, continued to
be observed."
For a complete account of how
Easter was foisted upon the "Chris–
tian" world, be sure to request our
free booklet
The Plain Truth About
Easter.
You will be amazed. Also,
for a fui! explanation of a Christian's
responsibility regarding the Pass–
over, write for your free copy. of the
booklet
When and How Often
Should We Observe the "Lord's
Supper"?
It is high time to discard the
religious traditions and customs of
the world and to return to the ways
ordained by God! o
TEST-TUBE BABlES
(Continued from page 28)
too much imagination, in view of
wa rnings from scientists themselves,
to suspect that sorne of these diseases
may be created in labora tories acci–
dently or on purpose for germ war-·
fa re..
Treat the Cause, not the Effect
The reason given for continued
research in reproductive science, in
spite of the risks, is to overcome
infertility, genetic defects and dis–
eases in humans, animals and
plants.
.
Worthy ideals.
But we need to ask ourselves
why
these problems exist in the first
place. lf such problems did not exist
then there would be no need tó run
the risks of experimentation with
cloning, genetic manipulation and
related ñelds.
Back to the beginning. When God
created Adam, Eve and all living
things, they were all physically per-
. fect, though spiritually incomplete
(Genesis
1
:31). Disobedience toGod's
laws brought curses, degeneration and
disease. God warned Adam and Eve
that the day they rejected His way of .
life and began to experiment for them–
selves, they would begin to degenerate
and die (Genesis 2:1 7).
Later in history God repeated the
principie to ancient Israel : " But if you
will notobey the voiceofthe Lord your
God or be careful to do all his
commandments and bis statutes .. .
then all these curses shall come upon
you and overtake you ... Cursed shall
be the fruit of your body, and the fruit
of your ground, the increase of your
cattle, and the young of your flock"
(Deuteronomy 28:15, 18, Revised
Standard Version).
Broken laws have brought the pen–
alties of infertility, birth defects,
degeneration and disease.
The solution is
not
to . try to get
around the penalties with test tubes
and genetic tampering. The solution
is for mankind to repent of breaking
God's laws- laws governing the
physical as well as the spiritual-and
ask for forgiveness and healing. Then
the
cause
of the problem will be
eliminated.
"And if you obey the voice of the
Lord your God, being careful to do
all his commandments ... all these
blessings shall come upon you and
overtake you ... Blessed shall be the
fruit of your body, and the fruit of
your ground, and the fruit of your
beasts, the increase of your cattle,
and the young of your flock ... And
the Lord will make you abound in
prosperity, in the fruit of your body,
and in the fruit of your cattle, and in
the fruit of your ground" (Deuteron–
omy 28:1 -2,4, 11, RSV).
Now isn't tha t what we want?
That's what we could have had all
a long had we obeyed God. In repro–
ductive science, a.s in all other fields,
catastrophe in human experimenta–
.tion and research will ultimately lead
to one colossal discovery: God's way
is right after all! o
39