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As we have touched the subject I deem it not unreasonable to say a few
words concerning Easter. It appears to me that neither the ancients
nor moderns who have affected to follow the Jews, have had any
rational foundation for contending so obstinately about it. For they
have not taken into consideration the fact that when Judaism was
changed into Christianity, the obligation to observe the Mosaic law
and the ceremonial types ceased. And the proof of the matter is
plain; for no law of Christ permits Christians to imitate the Jews.
On the contrary the apostle expressly forbids it; not only rejecting
circumcision, but also deprecating contention about festival days. In
his epistle to the Galatians he writes, 'Tell me ye that desire to
be under the law, do ye not hear the law?' And continuing his train
of argument, he demonstrates that the Jews were in bondage as
servants, but that those who have come to Christ are 'called into the
liberty of sons.' Moreover he exhorts them in no way to regard
'days, and months, and years.' Again in his epistle to the
Colossians he distinctly declares, that such observances are merely
shadows: wherefore he says, 'Let no man judge you in meat, or in
drink, or in respect of any holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the
sabbath-days; which are a shadow of things to come.' The same
truths are also confirmed by him in the epistle to the Hebrews in these
words: 'For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity
a change also of the law.' Neither the apostles, therefore, nor the
Gospels, have anywhere imposed the 'yoke of servitude' on those who
have embraced the truth; but have left Easter and every other feast to
be honored by the gratitude of the recipients of grace. Wherefore,
inasmuch as men love festivals, because they afford them cessation from
labor: each individual in every place, according to his own pleasure,
has by a prevalent custom celebrated the memory of the saving passion.
The Saviour and his apostles have enjoined us by no law to keep this
feast: nor do the Gospels and apostles threaten us with any penalty,
punishment, or curse for the neglect of it, as the Mosaic law does
the Jews. It is merely for the sake of historical accuracy, and for
the reproach of the Jews, because they polluted themselves with blood
on their very feasts, that it is recorded in the Gospels that our
Saviour suffered in the days of 'unleavened bread.' The aim of the
apostles was not to appoint festival days, but to teach a righteous
life and piety. And it seems to me that just as many other customs
have been established in individual localities according to usage. So
also the feast of Easter came to be observed in each place according to
the individual peculiarities of the peoples inasmuch as none of the
apostles legislated on the matter. And that the observance originated
not by legislation, but as a custom the facts themselves indicate. In
Asia Minor most people kept the fourteenth day of the moon,
disregarding the sabbath: yet they never separated from those who did
otherwise, until Victor, bishop of Rome, influenced by too ardent a
zeal, fulminated a sentence of excommunication against the
Quartodecimans in Asia. Wherefore also Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons
in France, severely censured Victor by letter for his immoderate
heat; telling him that although the ancients differed in their
celebration of Easter, they did not desist from intercommunion. Also
that Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who afterwards suffered martyrdom
under Gordian, continued to communicate with Anicetus bishop of
Rome, although he himself, according to the usage of his native
Smyrna, kept Easter on the fourteenth day of the moon, as Eusebius
attests in the fifth book of his Ecclesiastical History. While
therefore some in Asia Minor observed the day above-mentioned,
others in the East kept that feast on the sabbath indeed, but differed
as regards the month. The former thought the Jews should be
followed, though they were not exact: the latter kept Easter after
the equinox, refusing to celebrate with the Jews; 'for,' said
they, 'it ought to be celebrated when the sun is in Aries, in the
month called Xanthicus by the Antiochians, and April by the
Romans.' In this practice, they averred, they conformed not to the
modern Jews, who are mistaken in almost everything, but to the
ancients, and to Josephus according to what he has written in the
third book of his Jewish Antiquities. Thus these people were at
issue among themselves. But all other Christians in the Western
parts, and as far as the ocean itself, are found to have celebrated
Easter after the equinox, from a very ancient tradition. And in fact
these acting in this manner have never disagreed on this subject. It
is not true, as some have pretended, that the Synod under
Constantine altered this festival: for Constantine himself, writing
to those who differed respecting it, recommended that as they were few
in number, they could agree with the majority of their brethren. His
letter will be found at length in the third book of the Life of
Constantine by Eusebius; but the passage in it relative to Easter
runs thus:
'It is a becoming order which all the churches in the Western,
Southern, and Northern parts of the world observe, and some places
in the East also. Wherefore all on the present occasion have judged
it fight, and I have pledged myself that it will have the acquiescence
of your prudence, that what is unanimously observed in the city of
Rome, throughout Italy, Africa, and the whole of Egypt, in
Spain, France, Britain, Libya, and all Greece, the diocese of
Asia and Pontus, and Cilicia, your wisdom also will readily
embrace; considering not only that the number of churches in the
aforesaid places is greater, but also that while there should be a
universal concurrence in what is most reasonable, it becomes us to have
nothing in common with the perfidious Jews.'
Such is the tenor of the emperor's letter. Moreover the
Quartodecimans affirm that the observance of the fourteenth day was
delivered to them by the apostle John: while the Romans and those in
the Western parts assure us that their usage originated with the
apostles Peter and Paul. Neither of these parties however can
produce any written testimony in confirmation of what they assert. But
that the time of keeping Easter in various places is dependent on
usage, I infer from this, that those who agree in faith, differ
among themselves on questions of usage. And it will not perhaps be
unseasonable to notice here the diversity of customs in the churches.
The fasts before Easter will be found to be differently observed among
different people. Those at Rome fast three successive weeks before
Easter, excepting Saturdays and Sundays. Those in Illyrica and
all over Greece and Alexandria observe a fast of six weeks, which
they term 'The forty days' fast.' Others commencing their fast
from the seventh week before Easter, and fasting three five days
only, and that at intervals, yet call that time 'The forty days'
fast.' It is indeed surprising to me that thus differing in the
number of days, they should both give it one common appellation; but
some assign one reason for it, and others another, according to their
several fancies. One can see also a disagreement about the manner of
abstinence from food, as well as about the number of days. Some
wholly abstain from things that have life: others feed on fish only of
all living creatures: many together with fish, eat fowl also, saying
that according to Moses, these were likewise made out of the waters.
Some abstain from eggs, and all kinds of fruits: others partake of
dry bread only; stilt others eat not even this: while others having
fasted till the ninth hour, afterwards take any sort of food without
distinction. And among various nations there are other usages, for
which innumerable reasons are assigned. Since however no one can
produce a written command as an authority, it is evident that the
apostles left each one to his own free will in the matter, to the end
that each might perform what is good not by constraint or necessity.
Such is the difference in the churches on the subject of fasts. Nor
is there less variation in regard to religious assemblies. For
although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred
mysteries on the sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of
Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have
ceased to do this. The Egyptians in the neighborhood of Alexandria,
and the inhabitants of Thebais, hold their religious assemblies on the
sabbath, but do not participate of the mysteries in the manner usual
among Christians in general: for after having eaten and satisfied
themselves with food of all kinds, in the evening making their
offerings they partake of the mysteries. At Alexandria again, on the
Wednesday in Passion week and on Good Friday, the scriptures are
read, and the doctors expound them; and all the usual services are
performed in their assemblies, except the celebration of the
mysteries. This practice in Alexandria is of great antiquity, for it
appears that Origen most commonly taught in the church on those days.
He being a very learned teacher in the Sacred Books, and perceiving
that the 'impotence of the law' of Moses was weakened by literal
explanation, gave it a spiritual interpretation; declaring that there
has never been but one true Passover, which the Saviour celebrated
when he hung upon the cross: for that he then vanquished the adverse
powers, and erected this as a trophy against the devil. In the same
city of Alexandria, readers and chanters are chosen indifferently from
the catechumens and the faithful; whereas in all other churches the
faithful only are promoted to these offices. I myself, also, learned
of another custom in Thessaly. If a clergyman in that country, after
taking orders, should sleep with his wife, whom he had legally married
before his ordination, he would be degraded. In the East, indeed,
all clergymen, and even the bishops themselves, abstain from their
wives: but this they do of their own accord, and not by the necessity
of any law; for there have been among them many bishops, who have had
children by their lawful wives, during their episcopate. It is said
that the author of the usage which obtains in Thessaly was Heliodorus
bishop of Tricca in that country; under whose name there are love
books extant, entitled Ethiopica, which he composed in his youth.
The same custom prevails at 'Thessalonica, and in Macedonia, and
in Greece. I have also known of another peculiarity in Thessaly,
which is, that they baptize there on the days of Easter only; in
consequence of which a very great number of them die without having
received baptism. At Antioch in Syria the site of the church is
inverted; so that the altar does not face toward the east, but toward
the west. In Greece, however, and at Jerusalem and in Thessaly
they go to prayers as soon as the candles are lighted, in the same
manner as the Novatians do at Constantinople. At Caesarea
likewise, and in Cappadocia, and in Cyprus, the presbyters and
bishops expound the Scriptures in the evening, after the candles are
lighted. The Novatians of the Hellespont do not perform their
prayers altogether in the same manner as those of Constantinople; in
most things, however, their usage is similar to that of the prevailing
church. In short, it is impossible to find anywhere, among all the
sects, two churches which agree exactly in their ritual respecting
prayers. At Alexandria no presbyter is allowed to address the
public: a regulation which was made after Arius had raised a
disturbance in that church. At Rome they fast every Saturday. At
Caesarea of Cappadocia they exclude from communion those who have
sinned after baptism as the Novatians do. The same discipline was
practiced by the Macedonians in the Hellespont, and by the
Quartodecimans in Asia. The Novatians in Phrygia do not admit such
as have twice married; but those of Constantinople neither admit nor
reject them openly, while in the Western parts they are openly
received. This diversity was occasioned, as I imagine, by the
bishops who in their respective eras governed the churches; and those
who received these several rites and usages, transmitted them as laws
to their posterity. However, to give a complete catalogue of all the
various customs and ceremonial observances in use throughout every city
and country would be difficult--rather impossible; but the instances
we have adduced are sufficient to show that the Easter Festival was
from some remote precedent differently celebrated in every particular
province. They talk at random therefore who assert that the time of
keeping Easter was altered in the Nicene Synod; for the bishops
there convened earnestly labored to reduce the first dissenting minority
to uniformity of practice with the rest of the people. Now that many
differences existed even in the apostolic age of the church occasioned
by such subjects, was not unknown even to the apostles themselves, as
the book of The Acts testifies. For when they understood that a
disturbance occurred among believers on account of a dissension of the
Gentiles, having all met together, they promulgated a Divine law,
giving it the form of a letter. By this sanction they liberated
Christians from the bondage of formal observances, and all vain
contention about these things; and they taught them the path of true
piety, prescribing such things only as were conducive to its
attainment. The epistle itself, which I shall here transcribe, is
recorded in The Aces of the Apostles.
'The apostles and eiders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren
which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have
troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be
circumcised, and keep the law; to whom we gave no such commandment:
it seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send
chosen men unto you, with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that
have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same
thing by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to
lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that ye
abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things
strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, ye
shall do well. Fare ye well.'
These things indeed pleased God: for the letter expressly says,
'It seemed good to the Holy Ghost to lay upon you no greater burden
than these necessary things.' There are nevertheless some persons
who, disregarding these precepts, suppose all fornication to be an
indifferent matter; but contend about holy-days as if their lives were
at stake, thus contravening the commands of God, and legislating for
themselves, and making of none effect the decree of the apostles:
neither do they perceive that they are themselves practicing the
contrary to those things which God approved. It is possible easily to
extend our discourse respecting Easter, and demonstrate that the Jews
observe no exact rule either in the time or manner of celebrating the
paschal solemnity: and that the Samaritans, who are an offshoot from
the Jews, always celebrate this festival after the equinox. But this
subject would require a distinct and copious treatise: I shall
therefore merely add, that those who affect so much to imitate the
Jews, and are so very anxious about an accurate observance of types,
ought to depart from them in no particular. For if they have chosen to
be so correct, they must not only observe days and months, but all
other things also, which Christ (who was 'made under the law') did
in the manner of the Jews; or which he unjustly suffered from them;
or wrought typically for the good of all men. He entered into a ship
and taught. He ordered the Passover to be made ready in an upper
room. He commanded an ass that was tied to be loosed. He proposed a
man bearing a pitcher of water as a sign to them for hastening their
preparations for the Passover. [He did] an infinite number of other
things of this nature which are recorded in the gospels. And yet those
who suppose themselves to be justified by keeping this feast, would
think it absurd to observe any of these things in a bodily manner. For
no doctor ever dreams of going to preach from a ship --no person
imagines it necessary to go up into an upper room to celebrate the
Passover there --they never tie, and then loose an ass again-and
finally no one enjoins another to carry a pitcher of water, in order
that the symbols might be fulfilled. They have justly regarded such
things as savoring rather of Judaism: for the Jews are more
solicitous about outward solemnities than the obedience of the heart;
and therefore are they under the curse, because they do not discern the
spiritual bearing of the Mosaic law, but rest in its types and
shadows. Those who favor the Jews admit the allegorical meaning of
these things; and yet they wage a deadly warfare against the observance
of days and months, without applying to them a similar sense: thus do
they necessarily involve themselves in a common condemnation with the
Jews.
But enough I think has been said concerning these things. Let us now
return to the subject we were previously treating of, the fact that the
Church once divided did not stay with that division, but that those
separated were again divided among themselves, taking occasion from the
most trivial grounds. The Novatians, as I have stated, were
divided among themselves on account of the feast of Easter, the
controversy not being restricted to one point only. For in the
different provinces some took one view of the question, and some
another, disagreeing not only about the month, but the days of the
week also, and other unimportant matters; in some places they hold
separate assemblies because of it, in others they unite in mutual
communion.
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