The most important event on the Christian calendar is the death and resurrection of our Lord.
Various different calendars are used to calculate the correct date - some follow the Catholic dating, some the Jewish, some the Orthodox, and others follow less well established versions of the calendar. This year the first one to occur is the Catholic calculation, which places the death and resurrection this weekend.
Some refer to this event as "Easter", others as "Passover", others as "Pascha". The details of how it is commemorated vary enormously between denominations, and between people on this forum - the variations being so wide that many people believe others are very wrong - heretical or even sinful.
But the fact remains that despite this diversity in terminology and practice, we all do whatever we do in order to remember the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ / Yeshua Hamashiach.
This year, I wish us all to respect everyone else's practices, and refrain from arguing. Let us come together as followers of Jesus / Yeshua, to remember His sacrifice for our sins.
To maintain the focus on the core of the matter, and not on peripheral practices, and to ensure that everyone feels welcome especially during the time they personally honour as sacred:
Various different calendars are used to calculate the correct date - some follow the Catholic dating, some the Jewish, some the Orthodox, and others follow less well established versions of the calendar. This year the first one to occur is the Catholic calculation, which places the death and resurrection this weekend.
Some refer to this event as "Easter", others as "Passover", others as "Pascha". The details of how it is commemorated vary enormously between denominations, and between people on this forum - the variations being so wide that many people believe others are very wrong - heretical or even sinful.
But the fact remains that despite this diversity in terminology and practice, we all do whatever we do in order to remember the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ / Yeshua Hamashiach.
This year, I wish us all to respect everyone else's practices, and refrain from arguing. Let us come together as followers of Jesus / Yeshua, to remember His sacrifice for our sins.
To maintain the focus on the core of the matter, and not on peripheral practices, and to ensure that everyone feels welcome especially during the time they personally honour as sacred:
- During Easter (Catholic dating 29-31 March), no criticism of Easter will be tolerated. All posts from now until the end of Easter Sunday, that criticise Easter, anywhere on the forum, will be deleted without warning.
- During Passover and the feast of unleavened bread (Jewish dating 22-29 April), no criticism of Passover will be tolerated. All posts during that period that criticise this celebration, anywhere on the forum, will be deleted without warning.
- Betweentimes and immediately afterwards we will be less rigorous about this but will still aim to ensure discussion is polite and does not risk turning poeple away from the forum. Remember too that the above dates are not the only dates our Lord's death and resurrection is commemorated on, just the most common ones. For example, Orthodox Pascha is May 3-5, and there are many alternative understandings of the Biblical / Hebrew calendar followed by Hebrew Roots believers.