Priests and festival feasts - The transformation of Easter - Part One (Introduction)

Around this time of year, many Christians and other religious denominations, celebrate Easter and Christmas (or the equivalent of it), without even realizing the importance and origin of the dates they are celebrating.

Part two, or conclusion, will be uploaded around Christmas time so that we all can understand December 25th is a celebration of the sun to northern skies.

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[tuggleprentiss]

"the Third Century were still called "presbyters" because it hadn't become an organized religion yet"

Well it was never intended to be an organized religion. That's the problem. When I talk about the 1st century church I mean before it was "organized". That's the point of calling it first century Christianity, it doesn't have the bureaucratic organization. Just individuals meeting in homes of other Christians.

[tuggleprentiss]

"The First Gospel was written until c. 70 CE and the church wasn't even established "

The church was well established & spreading like wildfire through the Gentile world long before AD70. That's why they were written. Look at the first 4 verses of Luke. Written so all the new converts will know what took place. The church was established immediately when Peter and the apostles started preaching. Read Acts, it details it all. By AD 70 the Romans were becoming concerned and killing Christians.

[QuestioProVerum]

Part Two:

Gnostic ideas were well established before the actual Christian church surfaced. Christian "priests" well into the Third Century were still called "presbyters" because it hadn't become an organized religion yet.

[QuestioProVerum]

Part One:

Gnosticism, like I said before, branched off of the Essene sect of Judaism at the time Paul first finished his epistles. The First Gospel was written until c. 70 CE and the church wasn't even established.

Early Christians, would often worship in Jewish Synagogues because they were still considered Jews.

[tuggleprentiss]

That is something completely different. Gnosticism is a general word that could be applied to any religion, where some followers have special or revealed knowledge about whatever God they worshipped. I am talking about the introduction of Gnosticism and gnostic ideas into Christianity, which didn't start happening until AD80 or 90. Christianity was well established by then and was a majority gentile religion, even though it started out primarily Jewish decades before.

[QuestioProVerum]

But your sources are incorrect...

The Gnostics branched off of the Essenes who were a sect in place well before Christianity even arrived and out numbered the Gentiles well into the Second Century. Why do you think the catholic Church set out to destroy it and its history...

[tuggleprentiss]

Nope. None of those. Just plain old non-denominational. The Gnostics were fairly rare and considered an apostacy by the mainline church. Gnosticism arose a half century after the original church was started, we only start to see evidence when the book of John was written, one of the last books in the NT. Once Paul's ministry began, the church exploded w/Gentiles. Mark has to explain Aramaic words that every Jew from Palestine would know. You understimate the % of Christians that were gentiles.

[QuestioProVerum]

Well, I'm guessing your either a Seven Day Adventist, Jehovah's witness or perhaps even Presbyterian? Regardless, since Catholicism wasn't born until 325 CE, your knowledge of 1st Century Christendom is probably far from what it actually was. No offense, but Christians in the first century were either Jews or Gnostic and I doubt your "church" resembles anything of the sort.

I'm guessing your church is unaware of Gnostic tradition, therefore it resembles nothing like 1st Century Christianity.

[tuggleprentiss]

I like the chocolate bunnies, but usually wait until the following week when they are half price. But my church doesn't make a big deal of Easter, if that is what you mean. The farther you get from Catholicism and the closer you get to something resembling 1st century Christianity, the less special days of the year are a part of it.

[QuestioProVerum]

and what about Easter?