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Easter - Holy Bible Institute

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Jesus died on the 14th of Nissan, the very hour theyearly Passover lamb was killed.And because he saw it pleased theJews, he proceeded further to takePeter also. (Then were the days ofunleavened bread.) And when hehad apprehended him, he put himin prison, and delivered him to fourquaternions of soldiers to keephim; intending after <strong>Easter</strong> to bringhim forth to the people. Acts 12:3-4 KJV


A letter of St. Irenæus is among the extracts just referred to, and this showsthat the diversity of practice regarding <strong>Easter</strong> had existed at least from thetime of Pope Sixtus (c. 120). Further, Irenæusstates that Polycarp, kept <strong>Easter</strong> on the fourteenth day of the moon, whateverday of the week that might be, following therein the tradition which he claimedto have derived from John the Apostle,…“they observed the practice, whichfrom Apostolic tradition has prevailed to the present time”---First phaseThe question thus debated was therefore primarily whether<strong>Easter</strong> was to be kept on a Sunday, or whether Christiansshould observe the <strong>Holy</strong> Day of the Jews, the fourteenth ofNisan, which might occur on any day of the week.He enjoyed the instruction of Polycarp, who was a pupil of the apostleJohn. Irenaeus may have accompnied Polycarp on his journey to Romein connection with the <strong>Easter</strong> controversy (A.D. 154).


William Tyndale1494 - 1536


Myles CoverdaleNow whan he had 1488 - 1569taken him, he puthim in preson, anddelyuered him vntofoure quaternions ofsoudyers, to kepehim: and thoughtafter <strong>Easter</strong> to bringehim forth to thepeople.


Myles Coverdale1488 - 1569CRANMER— 1539.


Martin Luther1483 - 1546


John Rogers1500 - 1555


William Whittingham1524 - 1579


Matthew Parker1504 - 1575And when he had caught hym, he put hymin pryson also, and delyuered hym to fourequaternions of souldiers to be kept,intendyng after <strong>Easter</strong> to bryng hym foorthto the people.


And when hee hadapprehended him, heeput him in prison, anddeliuered him to fourequaternions of souldiersto keepe him, intendingafter <strong>Easter</strong> to bringhim forth to the people.And when he hadapprehended him, heput him in prison, anddelivered him to fourquaternions of soldiersto keep him; intendingafter <strong>Easter</strong> to bringhim forth to the people.


Thomas Cranmer


And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, anddelivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intendingafter <strong>Easter</strong> to bring him forth to the people.on kai piasas etheto eis phulakên paradous tessarsin tetradioisstratiôtôn phulassein auton boulomenos meta to pascha anagageinauton tô laô


(3957) pa>sca, — pas’-khah; of Chaldee origin[compare Hebrew {6453}(pecach)]; the Passover (the meal, the day, thefestival or the special sacrifices connected withit): — <strong>Easter</strong>, Passover.


The Oxford English dictionary lists many early English literary sourcesthat employed the word <strong>Easter</strong> to refer to the Resurrection.890 A.D. Aelfred Baeda "le dar tide Eastrena ecelice healdan wille“1123 A.D. Old English Chronicles1200, 1250, 1300; 1389 in English Gild 'be soneday fourthnytheafter <strong>Easter</strong>ne“1175 A.D. Lamb Homilies 45 "uwile sonnedei is to locan alswaEster dei“1200 Trin. Coll. Homily "Forte pene puresdai biforen Estrene dai“1398 A.D. Trevira Barth "Eester daye is tyme of gladnesse“1420, 1440, 1480 "wold not graunte unto Estre next comyng“1447 Bokenham "On Esterne day next folwyng1517 A.D. Torkington - Pilgrimage - "He sawe...Criste rysen uponEstern Day“1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. "keeping the feast of <strong>Easter</strong> on the sameday the Jews kept theirs"


John Wycliffe1328 - 1384CAP 121 And in the same tyme Eroude the king sente power, toturmente sum men of the chirche.2 And he slowe bi swerd James, the brothir of Joon.3 And he siy that it pleside to Jewis, and keste to take alsoPetre; and the daies of therf looues weren.4 And whanne he hadde cauyte Petre, he sente hym in toprisoun; and bitook to foure quaternyouns of knyytis, tokepe hym,and wolde aftir pask bringe hym forth to the puple.


RHEIMS — 1582


Twelve Languages! An amazing work. The textof the entire NT is laid out with exceptionallyfine type-setting in English, French, Italian,Spanish, Polish, Danish, German, Bohemian (aCzech dialect), Latin, Greek, Syriac and Hebrew.This is recognized by scholars as the study NewTestament. It is also known as one of the rarestitems in bibliography.


Twelve early Christians wrote about keeping theanniversary of Christ’s birth long beforeConstantine. In fact, one of the first controversiesof the church was around 190 A.D., about thedate to celebrate <strong>Easter</strong>. Since eastern Christians,called Quartodecimians, celebrated it at the timeof the Jewish Passover, and western Christiansfavored the first moon after the spring equinox,they obviously celebrated something, or theywould have had nothing to disagree about! Bythe way, the dispute was settled by allowing eachside to celebrate it when they wished. Not asingle early Christian writer wrote against <strong>Easter</strong>.


Theophilus of Caesarea (180 A.D.) "We would have you know, too,that in Alexandria also they observe the festival on the same day asourselves. For the Paschal letters are sent from us to them, and fromthem to us: so that we observe the holy day in unison and together."Epistle on the Question of the Passover Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.8p.774Melito of Sardis (died c.190 A.D.) (Quartodecimian) wrote an entirework on <strong>Easter</strong> called On Pascha.Irenaeus (182-188 A.D.) wrote an entire treatise on <strong>Easter</strong>. "fragment 7 Questions and Responses of Orthodoxy.Polycrates of Ephesus (196 A.D.) was for a time excommunicated bythe bishop of Rome for being a Quartodecimian


Tertullian (200-240 A.D.) "We rejoice in the same privilege also from<strong>Easter</strong> to Whitsunday." The Chaplet ch.3 p.94Hippolytus bishop of Portus (225-235/6 A D.) criticizedQuartodecimians who observed <strong>Easter</strong> at the same time the Jewscelebrate Passover. The Refutation of All Heresies book 8 ch.11 p.123Origen (225-254 A.D.) "he who considers that ‘Christ our Passover wassacrificed for us,’ and that it is his duty to keep the feast by eating ofthe flesh of the Word, never ceases to keep the paschal feast;" OrigenAgainst Celsus book 8 ch.22 p.647Cyprian of Carthage (246-258 A.D.) in his Letters 29, 39, and 54speaks of <strong>Easter</strong>-day.Firmilian (246-258 A.D.) mentions "the celebration of <strong>Easter</strong>" Letter74 ch.6 p.391


Anatolius of Alexandria (270-280 A.D.) discusses when <strong>Easter</strong> shouldbe celebrated. Paschal Canon ch.10 p.146-147. Also ch.15 p.150-151.Malchion (270 A.D.) (partial) says the evil Paul of Samosata died onthe Paschal festival. Letter written by Malchion in the name of theSynod of Antioch against Paul of Samosata ch.2 p.170Instructions of Commodianus ch.75 p.218 (240 A.D.) "They willassemble together at <strong>Easter</strong>, that day of ours most blessed; and letthem rejoice,”Methodius (260-312 A.D.) mentions "the fast which prepares for the<strong>Easter</strong> celebration" Banquet of the Ten Virgins book 3 ch.12 p.321In Summary: Unless Constantine time-traveled,these early Christians give us proof they celebrated<strong>Easter</strong> long before Constantine was born.


Ask one hundred NATIVE GREEKSwhat the Greek word PASCHAmeans, and ONE HUNDRED out ofONE HUNDRED native Greeks willproclaim resoundingly that theGreek word PASCHA meansEASTER, the exact opposite of thecritics.


The other common myth which the critics of theAuthorised Version promote is the nakedassertion that <strong>Easter</strong> is somehow derived from apagan festival related to Astarte, the goddess offertility. Once again, this is merely ademonstration of the malady that plagues thisunlearned age, as there is not a SHRED ofevidence that a pagan festival ever preceded orreplaced the celebration of the resurrection ofJesus Christ, a celebration which goes back tothe very Apostles themselves.


In contrast to the bankrupt and literally absurd allegationsthat swarm around modern Christendom like locusts, here arethe facts - the English word <strong>Easter</strong> is derived from Saxon andGermanic roots. This was ably noted by many scholars in thepast. For example, examine C. F. Cruse's absolutely accuratedeclaration in 1850 AD regarding the etymology of ourEnglish word <strong>Easter</strong> --"Our word EASTER is of Saxonorigin and of precisely the sameimportwith its German cognateOSTERN. The latter is derived fromthe old Teutonic form ofauferstehen / auferstehung, that is- RESURRECTION."


Very briefly, the German word Ostern, which means <strong>Easter</strong>, is acognate of Ost (east, or rising of the sun), and as Cruse noted,pools from the older Teutonic forms of erster (first), stehen(stand), which then became erstehen (resurrection - olderform), and which in turn became auferstehen (resurrection -current form). Thus, ESTER in English, which later morphedinto EaSTER, became the equivalent of OSTER which morphedinto OSTERN in German.Neither word was attached in anyway to a pagan goddess


the English word <strong>Easter</strong> means -and has always meant -RESURRECTION - specifically, theRESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.Accordingly, keep this simple truthin mind -There is a pre-resurrection pascha, and there is a post-resurrectionpascha. The difference is night and day, and it is the very resurrectionof Jesus Christ himself that forces both the schism and thedistinction, that divides the New Testament pascha from the OldTestament pascha, just as he divided the light from the darkness inthe very beginning. The fact that this simple truth is not understoodby the critics only serves to demonstrate yet again the rampantunregeneracy that permeates mainstream Christianity, for themethod of employment of this word in a pre- or post-resurrectioncontext is utterly paramount. Utterly.


Alfred Edersheim, a Jew whoconverted to Christianity in the19th century, and a master inRabbinic scholarship, stated it thisway when describing thefellowship of Jesus with hisdisciples at the Last Supper --"It was to be the last of the oldpaschas; the first, or rather thesymbol of promise, of the new."


The RESURRECTION OF JESUSCHRIST is the cardinal message ofthe book of Acts, and it positivelysupercedes every other doctrinethroughout. The Apostles did notcelebrate the Jewish pascha, forthat would have been fatal to theentire tenor of the Gospel of JesusChrist as the fulfillment of all theOld Testament types. Absolutelyfatal. In fact, the Apostlescelebrated the Christian pascha.


Indeed, even the liberal scholar, Philip Schaff, who was thedriving force behind the American revision and whoquestioned the rendering of the Authorised Version in thispassage because he himself didn't understand thesignificance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, neverthelessimmediately opposed himself by admitting that the semanticdomain of pascha forced a notable change and distinction inits different shades of meaning --"<strong>Easter</strong> is the resurrection festivalWHICH FOLLOWS THE PASSOVERPROPER, but is included in thesame festive week."


It doesn't take a savant to figure itout: the death of Jesus Christ -"Christ our passover" (1Corinthians 5:7) - occurred beforethe days of unleavened bread. Theresurrection of Jesus Christoccurred during the days ofunleavened bread, and Luke wentout of his way to explain to hisreaders, "then were the days ofunleavened bread."The RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST occurred during the daysof unleavened bread, and God's lexicon takes precedence overman's lexicon.


The day Jesus Christ rose from thedead, the Apostles ceasedcelebrating the Jewish pascha,which was only a type, andinstead began to celebrate theChristian pascha, which was thefulfillment. That's why Christiansto this very day celebrate theRESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST,and that's why it's called EASTER,for EASTER means - and hasalways meant - RESURRECTION.


This matter was so universally known among primitive Christiansthat although a dispute arose in the second century over exactlywhich day the resurrection of Jesus Christ ought to be celebratedon, there was never the slightest disagreement about the factthat it should be celebratedThat <strong>Easter</strong> was to be observed BYVIRTUE OF APOSTOLICALTRADITION was generallyGRANTED BY ALL.Philip Schaff concurred --


"From some hints in the Epistles, viewed in the light of the universaland uncontradicted practice of the church in the second century itmay beinferred that the annual celebration of the death and theresurrection ofChrist, and of the outpouring of the <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit,originated in theapostolic age. In truth, Christ crucified, risen, andliving in the church, was the oneabsorbing thought of the earlyChristians; and as this thought expresseditself in the weeklyobservance of Sunday, so it would also very naturallytransform thetwo great typical feasts of the Old Testament into theChristian <strong>Easter</strong>and Whit-Sunday. The Paschal controversies of the second centuryrelated not to the fact, but to the time of the <strong>Easter</strong>festival, andPolycarp of Smyrna and Anicet of Rome traced theircustoms to anunimportant difference in the practice of the apostlesthemselves.”


It is generally recognized that theINVENTOR of a word is the world'sforemost authority on thedefinition of the word he invents.That's pretty simple. The man whoinvents the word is the very manwho determines what that wordmeans.William TyndaleINVENTED the Englishword PASSOVER. Asthe Trinitarian <strong>Bible</strong>Society noted --"When he [Tyndale] began his translation of the Pentateuch, hewasagain faced with the problem in Exodus 12:11 and twentyoneother places, and no doubt recognizing that EASTERin thiscontext would be an anachronism he coined a new word,PASSOVER, and used it consistently in all twenty-two places. It is,therefore, to Tyndale that our language is indebted for thismeaningful and appropriate word."


Modern bibles proclaim the "OLDpascha" in a post-resurrectioncontext in Acts 12:4.The Authorised Version proclaims the "NEW pascha" ina post-resurrection context in Acts 12:4. Yea, theAuthorised Version proclaims the RESURRECTION OFJESUS CHRIST.


Which is to say, this word does not occur in any other culture orany other language until the settlement of the Germanic tribes onthe European continent sometime after the 1st century AD - thatis, well after Christianity. Accordingly, those who attempt toattach EASTER to ASTARTE do so out of sheer imagination.Certainly, pagan practices have attached themselves to the<strong>Easter</strong> celebration in the centuries AFTER the <strong>Easter</strong>celebration was instituted, but to assert that born againChristians attached a pagan word and a pagan celebration tothe resurrection of Jesus Christ is nothing short ofblasphemy and treason to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.


William Tyndale, who lived four hundred years before Hislop andwho was fully aware of the history and etymology of the word <strong>Easter</strong>- as he was the first person to even use the word <strong>Easter</strong> in an English<strong>Bible</strong> - went to the stake for the Word of his Testimony. He wouldhave sacrificed his life many times over before employing a paganword in his <strong>Bible</strong>. Here is his own confession concerning the Word ofGod --William Tyndale1494 - 1536"For I call God to record against the daywe shall appear before the LordJesus, togive a reckoning of our doings, that Inever altered one syllableof God's Wordagainst my conscience, nor would thisday, if all that is inthe earth, whether it bepleasure, honour, or riches, might begiven me."Alexander McClure, TranslatorsRevived


In summary, the EASTER celebration was PURELY Christian, aSINGULAR celebration of the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST infulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies and types, institutedBY THE APOSTLES, and any assertion claiming that born againChristians adapted the EASTER celebration - that is, theRESURRECTION celebration - to a pagan festival is condemned onits own face by both the Word of God and the <strong>Holy</strong> Ghost alsobearing witness.In short, while it is difficult to trace all of our cognates to anarchetype in particular, we can nevertheless with absolutecertainty demonstrate the relationship between our languagesand their cognates. This is what makes the naked assertions ofthe critics so foolish, for they speak without a speck of evidence,whereas the etymological evidence opposing them is simplyundeniable.


Additionally, there is a possible problem if we understandthis verse to mean the Jewish Passover. Verse three of thischapter states that Peter was taken during, "the days ofunleavened bread." The next verse then speaks of <strong>Easter</strong>in the KJV. If the word is translated as Passover, we havethe Days of Unleavened Bread coming before thePassover. In the Biblical use of the term, Passover camebefore the Days of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:1-8, 15,19; 13:7; Leviticus 2:11; and Deuteronomy 16:4).Contextually, it would seem that this pascha that followedthe Days of Unleavened Bread was not the pascha thatpreceded the capture of Peter. Instead, it is likely to referto the Roman celebration of Ostara, hence called <strong>Easter</strong>.


Don’t let atheists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’sWitnesses, or even fellow mistaken Christians rob you of thejoy of <strong>Easter</strong>. But on the other hand, celebrating whatChristians have celebrated together for almost two millennia.


At the turn of the Century an old thief silent crept into thisland. This thief had been in Germany, robbing people offaith, robbing them of spiritual power and moral strength.This old thief made its way into the northern part of ourcountry and began to move down the eastern coast,depleting denomination, killing denominations, robbinginstitutions of their faith, ripping the <strong>Bible</strong> from the heartsand the hands of the common people. That old thief hasbeen around a long time. It first appeared in the Gardenof Eden where Satan said to Adam and Eve, Has Godsaid? Questioning the accuracy and the authority andthe acceptability of Scriptures. That old thief began tomove in.


That old thief is who I call Destructive Criticism. DestructiveCriticism clips the wings of faith with the scissors of reason.Destructive Criticism submits the warm wonder of the Word ofGod to the cold merciless analysis of Destructive Criticism.Destructive Criticism had a toolbox it brought with it. It hadsome diabolical tools in it. In that box was a heretical hammer,driving into the <strong>Bible</strong> the nails of the anti-supernatural, nails ofanti-miraculous. It had a skeptical saw pulling the words fromthe <strong>Bible</strong> saying that the Word of God and the <strong>Bible</strong> areseparate things. So that now the <strong>Bible</strong> is inspired in spots.This spot is inspired, but that spot is not inspired. Nowsomebody has to be inspired to tell you which spots are theinspired spots.


Then it had a cynical crowbar, ripping the <strong>Bible</strong> from thehearts of the common people. I’m here to tell you thatconservative scholarship has risen to the occasion in ourday and has demonstrated that old Destructive Criticismand all of his tools are flawed. You cannot take thesupernatural out of the <strong>Bible</strong>. You cannot take the miracleout of the <strong>Bible</strong>. You cannot kick God out of His <strong>Bible</strong>anymore than you can kick God out of His universe.First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida


First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, FloridaOn January 1, 1863, President Lincoln set his name and seal on theproclamation which set four million slaves free. The proclamationwas written on four pages of ordinary foolscap in the president‟sown handwriting. The document perished in the great Chicago Fireof 1871. Suppose some slave-owner should seize a former slave ofhis, challenge him to produce Lincoln‟s Proclamation as the charterof liberty, and say that if he did not produce the original, he wouldhold him still in slavery; what could the ex-slave do? He could notproduce the original, for the original was destroyed by fire. Althoughhe could not produce the original document, he could recover andproduce the original text. How? By copies of the same in publicdocuments; newspapers of the period; by translations of the text inFrench, German, and other languages; by quotations from theproclamation in speeches, periodicals, and books. By comparing andcombining all these, he could establish to the satisfaction of a courtof law the original message which gave him liberty.


Newer versions are often not as faithful tothe original text. As the September-October1988 The Good News magazine states, .TheAuthorized or King James Version is clearerand more faithful to the original Hebrew[and Greek] than most modern translationsbecause the King James Version is not anattempt to interpret the text. (page 21).


Ultimately it all boils down tofaith. Is our Almighty Godable to preserve His Word ornot? I, for one, believe God.A man's name is only as goodas his Word.


"The words of the LORDare pure words: as silvertried in a furnace ofearth, purified seventimes. Thou shalt keepthem, O LORD, thou shaltpreserve them from thisgeneration for ever."(Psalm 12:6-7)


Wesley


The Douay-Rheims <strong>Bible</strong> is an English translation of the Latin Vulgate<strong>Bible</strong>, a version universally used in the Church for over 1500 years,itself meticulously translated from the original Hebrew and Greek bySt. Jerome (A.D. 340-420).In 1546, the Council of Trent declared the Vulgate <strong>Bible</strong> as authentic,and declared that “No one (may) dare or presume under any pretextwhatsoever to reject it” (4th Session, April 8, 1546).In 1943, Pope Pius XII stated that the continuous use of the Vulgate<strong>Bible</strong> in the Church for many centuries showed that it was “free fromany error whatsoever in matters of faith and morals” (Divino Affl anteSpiritu (1943), paragraph 21).

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