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To Easter Or Not To Easter


Archangel

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Since "Easter" is not defined or used in the bible, which Protestant groups do not like to use the term "Easter" to describe the Resurrection?

For those that do like "Easter", what basis do they have for using it?

Thanks.

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Yes, we can thank Pope Gregory XIII for the Gregorian calendar which is used throughout most of the world, but I'm looking for an explanation with more substance. Thanks.

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like what?


that's the name of the holiday. so what? are you (as in catholics) trying to take credit for it?

you can have it if you want. if that's not your point, please explain, thanks!

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You don't need to get so defensive.

I just want to know where Protestants that like to use the term got it.

For those Protestants that don't like to use the term "Easter", I would also like to know if they reject the term "Christmas" since that is not in the bible either. Thanks.

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not defensive at all.


just wondering if the point is that these words came from catholicism.


easter, christmas....both on the calendar. what else are we supposed to call it?


we also accept 'trinity'....not in the bible


and 'rapture'.... not in the bible...but i don't think you want anything to do with that one right? :P

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Oh, well. I guess the bible doesn't teach everything explicitly about the faith afterall. :o

Good thing Catholics have Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium.

And good thing Protestants have Catholics.

Thanks, mulls. Peace.

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ha that was so obviously a set-up.



congratulations, your sacred tradition and magisterium named two dates on a calendar that have many more cultural than spiritual applications in the world.

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[quote name='mulls' date='Apr 11 2004, 07:27 PM']ha that was so obviously a set-up.[/quote]
Actually, it wasn't.

I'm still waiting for some substantive answers to my first two questions. Thanks.

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cmotherofpirl

And since I love word origin stuff:
Easter
The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v), relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring, which deity, however, is otherwise unknown, even in the Edda (Simrock, Mythol., 362); Anglo-Saxon, eâster, eâstron; Old High German, ôstra, ôstrara, ôstrarûn; German, Ostern. April was called easter-monadh. The plural eâstron is used, because the feast lasts seven days. Like the French plural Pâques, it is a translation from the Latin Festa Paschalia, the entire octave of Easter. The Greek term for Easter, pascha, has nothing in common with the verb paschein, "to suffer," although by the later symbolic writers it was connected with it; it is the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word pesach (transitus, passover). The Greeks called Easter the pascha anastasimon; Good Friday the pascha staurosimon. The respective terms used by the Latins are Pascha resurrectionis and Pascha crucifixionis. In the Roman and Monastic Breviaries the feast bears the title Dominica Resurrectionis; in the Mozarbic Breviary, In Lætatione Diei Pasch Resurrectionis; in the Ambrosian Breviary, In Die Sancto Paschæ. The Romance languages have adopted the Hebrew-Greek term: Latin, Pascha; Italian, Pasqua; Spanish, Pascua; French, Also some Celtic and Teutonic nations use it: Scottish, Pask; Dutch, Paschen; Danish, Paaske; Swedish, Pask; even in the German provinces of the Lower Rhine the people call the feast Paisken not Ostern. The word is, principally in Spain and Italy, identified with the word "solemnity" and extended to other feasts, e.g. Sp., Pascua florida, Palm Sunday; Pascua de Pentecostes, Pentecost; Pascua de la Natividad, Christmas; Pascua de Epifania, Epiphany. In some parts of France also First Communion is called Pâques, whatever time of the year administered.

NewAdvent

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Mateo el Feo

[quote name='Archangel' date='Apr 12 2004, 12:53 AM']For those Protestants that don't like to use the term "Easter", I would also like to know if they reject the term "Christmas" since that is not in the bible either. Thanks.[/quote]
Here's some text from Dictionary.com [url="http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=easter"](Link to Dictionary.com)[/url]:

[quote]Originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover. Hence the name came to be given to the festival of the Resurrection of Christ, which occured at the time of the Passover. In the early English versions this word was frequently used as the translation of the Greek pascha (the Passover). When the Authorized Version (1611) was formed, the word "passover" was used in all passages in which this word pascha occurred, except in Act 12:4. In the Revised Version the proper word, "passover," is always used.[/quote]

Some fun facts:[list]
[*]As the quote mentions, the King James Version of the Bible uses the term "Easter" once in Acts 12:4
[*]Most Latin-based languages use a term derived from Passover (Pascua, Pâques, etc)
[*]The term Easter translated to German is Ostern (I suspect that this is also derived from "Eostre"). Luther used the term ~15 times in his German translation of the Bible.
[*]The anti-Catholic conspiracy theorists I've run into try to paint the picture that the term is somehow related to Ishtar, the Babylonian/Assyrian/Phoenician goddess of fertility.
[/list]
Happy Easter!

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A simple fact... all Christian Holy Days are because the Catholic Church started them.

Christ's Mass dates back to before 292 AD ... we first see it written of in 292 AD.

The Catholic Church has the Tradition of Christ. It is sacred.

If it wasn't for the Catholic Church, there would be no protestants... all protestants came out of our group. Now read Acts 20:30-31.

Mulls, you are constantly on the defensive. Why the anger toward the Church you were once part of? You can't judge the Church by the people you know... you must judge the Church fairly, on the facts of history and what it really teaches.

Read historical writings before 1517 AD if you want an honest picture. There is a gray area between 1517 and about 1800, but all anti-Catholic writings of today that try to disprove the Church are worthless because they have the very teachings of the Church wrong. If they have the teachings of the Church wrong, why should we think they know anything about the history of it.

It's sad how many people think the bible feel from the sky.

God Bless,
ironmonk

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