Fellow Christian Guppies
I understand that in the time of Christ PBUH the lunar calendar was followed. Then why does the date for Christmas not shift yearly now. Why has it been fixed? On the contrary Easter is not celebrated on fixed dates.
Re: Question for Christians?
Christmas is always on the same day because it's a date that's been set as tradition based on our calendar and birthdays are always celebrated on the same date. No one really knows what day he was born, but December 25th was chosen at some point and became tradtion.
Easter is not consistently on the same date because it's based on the Jewish calendar and the celebration of Passover. Jesus was celebrating Passover just before he was arrested and crucified.
Re: Question for Christians?
I am not sure, but I guess the decision ,how Christianity was going to look like, was made in Turky long after Jesus(pbuh) was gone. Like few hundred years later.
Re: Question for Christians?
Fellow Christian Guppies
I understand that in the time of Christ PBUH the lunar calendar was followed. Then why does the date for Christmas not shift yearly now. Why has it been fixed? On the contrary Easter is not celebrated on fixed dates.
Peace Bro USResident
At the time of Isa (AS) not only was the lunar calendar followed but also the early Christians i.e. the followers of Isa (AS) observed the Jewish law. They abstained from pork, they worshipped 'The Father in Heaven' and not Jesus (AS), and their males were circumcised. It was only when the Romans adopted the Rabbinical teachings of Isa (AS) into their own melting pot of beliefs did the calendar change too. You will see the name of the two predominant Christian solar calendars.
Julian and Greogorian ... both are linked with the Romans and the latter with the Christians. Pope Gregory the XIII created it. The legacy behind the solar calendar was because of the astrological signifiance of the sun and the use of it's zodiacal signs with respect to the seasons. Ages, periods and paths were what determined for the soothsayer society of the Romans a method of time determination and superstitious practices. The sun is also (erroneously) a symbol of invinsibility and is often linked with pagan triadic deities. But the reason why Christians adopted the system was probably more related to the convenience of a known system rather than any intentional plan to follow pagan calendar systems.
Re: Question for Christians?
I understand that in the time of Christ PBUH the lunar calendar was followed.
In the time of Jesus Christ Julius Ceasar has already drawn up his calender and the whole Roman world followed it. Obviously individual religions continued to follow their own religious calendars, as they still do today. For all administrative/legalistic/governmence, the Julius Ceasar calendar (which was an improvement on previous calendar systems) was used. The Jews did not follow a lunar calendar as they had 12 months in their year.
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Then why does the date for Christmas not shift yearly now.
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Seminole is correct on this. As Christian I consider Christmas a pagan day because of its origen. Jesus was more likely to have been born during September.
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On the contrary Easter is not celebrated on fixed dates.
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Seminole is partly correct. Easter is supposed to follow the Jewish religious day but not always. For example, this year Easter is celebrated on Friday the 21'st which is when the Jews celebrate "Purim". It should actually be celebrated during "Pass-over" which the Jews celebrate during April. Don't know how the Easter date therefor are fixed, or by whom.
At the time of Isa (AS) not only was the lunar calendar followed but also the early Christians i.e. the followers of Isa (AS) observed the Jewish law. They abstained from pork, they worshipped 'The Father in Heaven' and not Jesus (AS), and their males were circumcised.
Not true. The Jewish calendar was not a lunal calendar with 13 months but 12. The early Christians did not follow the Jewish law or abstained from pork, as can be seen from Acts 15. The male children of the Christian Jews were sometimes still circumcised but it was not a requirement for non-Jewish Christians.
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You will see the name of the two predominant Christian solar calendars.
Julian and Greogorian ... both are linked with the Romans and the latter with the Christians.
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The Julian calendar refers to Julius Caesar who was no Christian. In the 15'th century Copernicus proved that the Earth was not the centre of the universe and his findings were used by Gregorian to impliment the calendar as we know it today. It has NOTHING to do with a so-called "solar" calendar.
Re: Question for Christians?
Peace The Old Man
A 12 month calendar does not make it necessary that it is not a lunar one. The Muslims follow a 12 month lunar calendar. In Leviticus 23 the calendar system described is according to the experts based on a lunar calendar which was revolving around 12 months. Read the link at the bottom of this reply for the reference. The pagan calendars were based on season, whereas the one sanctioned by Divine authority were based on celrbrations that were not linked with the seasons.
I can agree here, but to emphasise the vast array of Christian festivals were a culmination of Jewish traditions that were forced to coincide with the pagan festivities. Easter is such a case. The timing of Easter is based on the solar calendar but moves by adjustments in the moon phase. That is why Easter can vary over a spread of some 36 days but is very much biased to the middle of April. See this link …
http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/freq3.html
This will also help the question of the main thread.
Read the previous and follow link …
Again I reiterate that 12 months does not mean it has to be solar. When I talk about early Christians I mean those Jews who followed Jesus (AS). You however, are pointing me to a specialised form of early Christians - The Gentile converts. In Islam the converts too do not have to get circumcised. However, through tradition they will circumcise their own children.
In the last para of Acts 15 … there are still prohibitions especially of meat consumption
19 It is my judgement, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.
Then we need to look at Paul, Barnabas, Peter they too were early Christians. How about the Ebionites, the Essenes, and Jerusalem locals who accepted Christ?
I would say without any hesitation that Muslims today resemble those early Christians better than Christians today.
I never said that the Julian calendar was Christian influenced, I said both were Roman influenced. As mentioned earlier calendar systems have never been designed on astronomical significance … rather they have been designed on either astroLOGical bases from pagan calendars who worshipped the sun … hence the seasonal celebrations or religious celebrations based on how God instructed those celebrations to be held.
Re: Question for Christians?
Thank you for the answers Semi, KA, OldMan and Psyah. Please continue if there is more to add.
Re: Question for Christians?
Peace Bro USResident
At the time of Isa (AS) not only was the lunar calendar followed but also the early Christians i.e. the followers of Isa (AS) observed the Jewish law. They abstained from pork, they worshipped 'The Father in Heaven' and not Jesus (AS), and their males were circumcised. It was only when the Romans adopted the Rabbinical teachings of Isa (AS) into their own melting pot of beliefs did the calendar change too. You will see the name of the two predominant Christian solar calendars.
Julian and Greogorian ... both are linked with the Romans and the latter with the Christians. Pope Gregory the XIII created it. The legacy behind the solar calendar was because of the astrological signifiance of the sun and the use of it's zodiacal signs with respect to the seasons. Ages, periods and paths were what determined for the soothsayer society of the Romans a method of time determination and superstitious practices. The sun is also (erroneously) a symbol of invinsibility and is often linked with pagan triadic deities. But the reason why Christians adopted the system was probably more related to the convenience of a known system rather than any intentional plan to follow pagan calendar systems.
even in Catholic prayer, it starts with "Father in Heaven Holy be your name, your kingdom comes you will be done, on earth as in heaven, give us today our daily bread forgive us from sins, and all who sins against us Amen