[Closed] Christian knowledge regarding Easter sought.

Confirmation bias?

Interesting point peakyblinder. More research needed.

My faith is not diminished though.

My faith is not diminished though.

It's held out against one critical comment on a chat forum ?

If you think it's confusing counting days, the Muslim's believe he wasn't crucified he was substituted. Yes Jesus appears in the Quran!

He was roman/jewish historian.

The text referred to is not what anyone today would call strong evidence - occurring so far after the date, not been correlated with other writings by the same author and there being no original manuscripts to study. It is widely accepted that it has been embellished by later Christians.

[url= http://http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus ]Josephus[/url]

Yes Jesus appears in the Quran!

Next you'll be telling us that Moses does too !

I was very upset by Woppit's thread title and I'm glad that there is another thread on here which is much more meaningful.

Indeed, given that STW by their own words is responsible for what is written here, it was an odd one legally!! But religion bashing is nowt new here...

Josephus was a Roman historian writing at the time and is considered an important source on the Roman Empire including all the Jewish groups in Jerusalem - joy of sitting next to some own revising Theology A level!!

My faith is not diminished though.

I sincerely don't intend to do that either. I sometimes wonder at the fact that so much of civilization has been shaped by Christianity, DESPITE there being no evidence. Stand in any big cathedral, imagine the work that went into its creation and then consider it is all based on pure faith. And then imagine how many others exist. Mind blowing.

It's not for me religon (I tried it out, researched a lot and settled on philosophical Taoism as a sort of code), but as long I'm not being harmed by it I can happily live in a world with people of faith!

its held out against one crititcal comment etc?

Don't quite follow

Eostre was the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of the Spring, and of fertility. The egg and the hare were her symbols of fecundity and re-birth which is why we have them today.
As the Anglo-Saxon (and Jutes, Danes etc) were all of the same racial and cultural stock then its fairly obvious that the worship of that Goddess would have been over a large part of North Western and central Europe, not 'England' alone.

Next you'll be telling us that Moses does too !

It's a great cast list in these abrahamic religions.

ernie_lynch - Member
Yes Jesus appears in the Quran!
Next you'll be telling us that Moses does too !

😀 😀

Stand in any big cathedral

Strasbourg Cathedral this weekend was wonderful!!!

There are so many things that have happened in my life which confirm my faith now. Not then, but now... Hard to explain

Josephus was a Roman historian writing at the time and is considered an important source on the Roman Empire including all the Jewish groups in Jerusalem

Well that explains my ignorance. I struggle to keep with current affairs let alone what the news was 2,000 years ago.

Indeed

(but giving the other sarcy posts (Moses) who knows, eh?!? 😉 )

As the Anglo-Saxon (and Jutes, Danes etc) were all of the same racial and cultural stock then its fairly obvious that the worship of that Goddess would have been over a large part of North Western and central Europe, not 'England' alone.

Lucky the Jews in North Africa/the Middle East established a religious feast in April 3,000 years ago to tie in with North European Anglo-Saxon one then.

Or did you think that Easter had nothing to do with the Passover ?

Christian or Islam or Buddhist or something else. God is God.

Buddhists do not believe in God in the Abrahamic sense they think everyone can achieve God [ head] like status. I think its hard to reconcile them as the same God but I get the idea. Its probably harder to do this with the polytheistic faiths

given that STW by their own words is responsible for what is written here, it was an odd one legally!! But religion bashing is nowt new here.

Two points
1. Forgive us or turn the other cheek which ever part of your faith appeals most
2. Blasphemy is no longer a crime here

did you think that Easter had nothing to do with the Passover ?

I am going to go for the celebration/remembrance of the Exodus [ of the Jews ]from Egypt [ and slavery] led by Moses to the promised land* and celebrated by Jews and the Death and resurrection of the [ Disputed] son of god celebrated by Christians as unrelated

You ?

* what is it 1000 + years before Christ? I forget anyone?

as unrelated

The Last Supper was the Passover Seder. All the readings in Catholic churches on Maundy Thursday relate exclusively to the Passover.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/holy-week/holy-thursday/holy-thursday-readings/

Easter is when it is because of the Passover and nothing else. It isn't in April because of a Pagan feast, even if there are eggs and bunnies at Easter. The Passover was established 3,000 years ago.

Julian - not a very good Christian but would like to be a better one.

You are telling me!

Blimey, if you need a STW thread to fill in the basic gaps in the knowledge of a religion you believe in, your faith must be all encompassing. Not sure if I could 'commit' to a religion unless I had done my homework in a big way first, but I guess that's why I was always destined to be an atheist.

very upset

Genuine question, not meant to be (too) derogatory, but do you actual mean that? You we actually, genuinely, properly [u]very[/u] upset by some ejjiot you have never met on a forum mocking a religion you believe in, in the name of (attempted) humour? I only ask this because as someone who has never had a religious belief I'm struggling to comprehend being upset by something like that. Are you easily upset otherwise, or is it just faith based stuff? Would it have made you very upset if he had mocked another faith you don't believe in?

What I don't understand is why if easter is to celebrate a specific event that must have happened on a specific day why does easter move so much in the calendar?

For the same reason that the Passover varies according to the lunar cycle.

Argh! which biscuits for [s]easter[/s] pagan Monday faith mocking?

Argh! which biscuits for easter pagan Monday faith mocking?

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

No need jay, worshipping at the altar du chocolat is quite sufficient

Easter is when it is because of the Passover and nothing else.

They are totally different festivals and events that occurred a thousand years apart and celebrate/remember completely different things. The only thing they share is the date they celebrate NOT The reasons nor causes.

No easter is where it is because this is the time that [christians believe] the Romans killed jesus.

...which was at the end of the Passover Celebration...

I was very upset by Woppit's thread title

Eh?

I am going to go for the celebration/remembrance of the Exodus [ of the Jews ]from Egypt [ and slavery] led by Moses to the promised land*

For which, just like the story of the alleged Nazarene, there is no evidence, despite years of attempts to find it.

@convert

To answer your first question, no I don't really need STW to fill in the gaps in my religious knowledge. There are plenty of other ways I could find out. Just interested that it came up on here.

As I may have said earlier, it's the message and the redemption that matters to me. The date of Easter is determined by the state of the moon, I think, so how much more pagan could that be? Obviously it's not on the anniversary of the Crucifiction - not sure the date is even known - but it doesn't matter. Christmas too is just a date - I have heard that Christ is more likely to have been born in September (can't remember where I heard that) - but again, it's a date on which we focus our thoughts. Suspiciously close to the equinox though... Another pagan festival subsumed. Again, I don't care - it's a focus.

To answer the second (set of) question(s). Yes I was upset about that thread title, yes I would have been unhappy about such a title about any other faith, no I'm not generally that easy to offend.

Woppit pisses me of a lot with his anti Christian stuff. Be an atheist if you wish, but don't be unpleasant to those who don't share your views. I don't castigate atheists, so why should they castigate those who have a faith?

I also don't agree with standing on a street corner or knocking on doors promoting religion. Some of the best Christians I know simply set a great example and will answer questions about their faith if asked.

And you did ask!

Whether 'Easter' as the Christian tradition is based on Passover or not isn't the point I made, the religious festival brought by the Romans/early Christian missionaries was overlayed onto the existing festival of the Goddess of the Spring & we still use her name for this today. The Christian festival may have its roots in Passover (which in itself may well be based on earlier rites of Spring) but in Northern European culture it became inextricably blended with the festival of Eostre, and English and other Germanic speaking peoples took that out into the wider world til it became the name of the prime Christian festival in the calendar.

I dont see many eggs and hares/bunnies used as Passover imagery.

Julian - your faith is yours and yours alone. I'm happy to respect your belief and will stand by your absolute right to worship freely within the law.
What I object to is Evangelical Christians 'witnessing' their faith and demanding special exemptions from the law .
The only way to freedom of and from religion is a truly secular state Imo.

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the zombie reference. Want to take the piss out of atheism? Go ahead, brother. Give it your best shot.

Religion is risible. I'm entitled to express my thoughts on the subject.

Go ahead and be offended, if that's what you want although it seems to me that if your beliefs, founded on thousands of years of the same in all sorts of variations from magical thunderbolt-hurlers to the undead self-harmer and a prophet wizzing around on a flying horse can't stand the occasional ribbing, it doesn't indicate very robust constitution.

In any event, why don't you just forgive me? 😉

Ignore is easier (at least on this topic) - but you might want to read the legal stance in case you say the same things at work - esp re "be offended."

They might be less "forgiving" than STW which takes the ultimate risk here 😉

Woppit.. Can you not realise that sometimes you're just being a rather unpleasant little person, rather than somebody endowed with reason and a purpose

Ooh. I believe I'm being patronised.

And by the way, I do take the same approach at work. In my previous career, it made for an interesting session in HR about the freedom to express opinions. The religious side ended up taking the flack.

In my current job, I work at a much more matter of fact level of society unencumbered by bourgeois politess.

It's not a problem.

You got anything else?

Be an atheist if you wish, but don't be unpleasant to those who don't share your views. I don't castigate atheists, so why should they castigate those who have a faith?

Lets be honest, Christianity doesn't exactly have a good reputation for this sort of behaviour though does it? I for one am thankful that we live in slightly more enlightened times where no belief is held to be above crtical analysis. One thing that does grate however is christians trying to portray themeselves as an oppressed minority. It might be the case in some parts of the world but it is certainly not true in the wider world and the UK in particular.

that's very interesting woppit..

I'm no Christian, but if I was in your workplace and had to put up with watching you gobbing off all the time I'd eventually feel compelled to introduce you to the even more working class concept of a smack in the ****in mouf mate 😉

What a big brave boy you are being mean at work and online.. 😆

The timing of Easter is based on the celebration of the Passover in the Jewish lunar-based calendar, so Easter Sunday in the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. (Passover being the occasion when God killed all the first born Egyptian children, but not the Jewish children.)

Some of the imagery is taken from the pagan Oestre spring celebration, because they happened to coincide.

The actual Easter story of death and resurrection after three days is based on earlier myths, like much of Christianity.

What I object to is Evangelical Christians 'witnessing' their faith and demanding special exemptions from the law .

Me too.

Lets be honest, Christianity doesn't exactly have a good reputation for this sort of behaviour though does it?

Some of the things that have been done in the name of Christianity are utterly appalling and should never have been done.

I say 'in the name of' as the acts bear no relation to what I believe Christianity stands for. The so-called Christian minister in the US who burned the Koran did a hateful thing. Anyone who kills in the name of Christianity is as abhorrent as someone who kills in the name of a different faith as far as I'm concerned.

Anyone is entitled to express their opinion but I believe that with the right so to do comes the responsibility to exercise that right with regard for others and their feelings.

As for a little ribbing, I think that you go far beyond that, Mr Woppit. My opinion - others are clearly available...

For the record and whilst not condoning violence in the name of any faith I wasn't the least bit surprised at what happened to Charlie Hebdoe. I thought that they overstepped the mark by a long way and contributed to events. Of course they have the right to say what they like but they should exercise that right carefully.

Ignore is easier (at least on this topic)

They might be less "forgiving" than STW which takes the ultimate risk here

No one likes evangelical types be they SS*, Religious or Vegan

* single speeders

Aren't Christians meant to be evangelical? No problem with them 'spreading the word' surely? Political influence is a different matter.

For the record and whilst not condoning violence in the name of any faith I wasn't the least bit surprised at what happened to Charlie Hebdoe. I thought that they overstepped the mark by a long way and contributed to events. Of course they have the right to say what they like but they should exercise that right carefully.

I do find that interesting and you certainly are not the first person of faith I have heard say this. I don't in any way believe you feel it was justified but you can understand the frustration/humiliation/contempt felt by those gunmen because of the 'ribbing' Charlie Hebdoe handed out to their religious figures. I think this is where the world fundamentally divides into people of faith(of any flavour) and those without. From your perspective you have have some empathy for the gunmen because you can believe the 'hurt' is genuine. From mine a belief in a faith is just gathered up with all other beliefs to be tested and derided and should be given no special reserve because I simply can't empathise that it is especially important.

I'm no Christian, but if I was in your workplace and had to put up with watching you gobbing off all the time I'd eventually feel compelled to introduce you to the even more working class concept of a smack in the **** mouf mate

What a big brave boy you are being mean at work and online.

I don't "gob off all the time". Why on earth do you think that I do? It's not THAT interesting.

Violence, eh? Nice.

To paraphrase Gore Vidal, "Once again, [s]Norman Mailer[/s] yunki runs out of words..." 🙂