Why one faith and two celebrations?
Easter is not only a movable holiday but a multiple one: in most years Western Christian churches and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on different dates. In 2012, for example, Easter will be celebrated on April 8 by Western churches and April 15 by Orthodox churches. But in 2011, the two celebrations occured on the same date, April 24.
The theological inconsistency of two Easters has remained a thorny problem for the Christian Church. "It has long been recognized that to celebrate this fundamental aspect of the Christian faith on different dates," states the World Council of Churches, "gives a divided witness and compromises the churches' credibility and effectiveness in bringing the Gospel to the world."
The theological inconsistency of two Easters has remained a thorny problem for the Christian Church. "It has long been recognized that to celebrate this fundamental aspect of the Christian faith on different dates," states the World Council of Churches, "gives a divided witness and compromises the churches' credibility and effectiveness in bringing the Gospel to the world."
A Simple Formula, Complicated Interpretations
The formula for Easter—"The first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox"—is identical for both Western and Orthodox Easters, but the churches base the dates on different calendars: Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar for much of the world, and Orthodox churches use the older, Julian calendar.
That much is straightforward. But actually calculating these dates involves a bewildering array of ecclesiastical moons and paschal full moons, the astronomical equinox, and thefixed equinox— and that's in addition to the two different calendar systems.
That much is straightforward. But actually calculating these dates involves a bewildering array of ecclesiastical moons and paschal full moons, the astronomical equinox, and thefixed equinox— and that's in addition to the two different calendar systems.
When Is a Full Moon Full?
The two churches vary on the definition of the vernal equinox and the full moon. The Eastern Church sets the date of Easter according to the actual, astronomical full moon and the actual equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem, site of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
Relation to Passover
The Eastern Orthodox Church also applies the formula so that Easter always falls after Passover, since the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ took place after he entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. In the Western Church, Easter sometimes precedes Passover by weeks.
Why One Faith and Two Easters?
The Western church does not use the actual, or astronomically correct date for the vernal equinox, but a fixed date (March 21). And by full moon it does not mean the astronomical full moon but the "ecclesiastical moon," which is based on tables created by the church. These constructs allow the date of Easter to be calculated in advance rather than determined by actual astronomical observances, which are naturally less predictable.
You write:
ReplyDelete"The formula for Easter—'The first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox'—is identical for both Western and Orthodox Easters, but the churches base the dates on different calendars: Western churches use the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar for much of the world, and Orthodox churches use the older, Julian calendar."
You also write:
"The Eastern Church sets the date of Easter according to the actual, astronomical full moon and the actual equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem."
These statements contradict each other. If the Eastern churches use the true sun, true moon, and meridian of Jerusalem to compute Easter then they don't use the Julian calendar. If they use the Julian paschalion, then they don't use the true sun, true moon, and meridian of Jerusalem.
In fact your first statement is correct and your second is wrong. The Eastern churches, with a few exceptions, use the old Julian paschalion. The exceptions use the Gregorian paschalion as the Western churches do. No church, East or West, uses the true sun, true moon, and meridian of Jerusalem. The 1923 agreement of Orthodox bishops to use the true sun, true moon, and meridian of Jerusalem was never permanently put into effect.
The false contrary proposition, that the 1923 agreement was actually implemented and continues in use, has, however, taken on a life of its own even though it can be contradicted by easily-verifiable facts.
For example, in 2002, the equinox was on March 20 at 19:16 Universal Time. The full moon was on March 28 at 18:25 universal time. Jerusalem clocks would at the same moment have read a time 2 hours 21 minutes later than these: equinox at March 20 21:37 and full moon on March 28 at 20:46. (March 28 was also 15 Nisan, the first day of Unleavened Bread in the Rabbinic calendar, and a Thursday). The following Sunday was March 31st. This was Easter according to the true sun, true moon, and meridian of Jerusalem. However, the Orthodox equinox was on April 3rd that year as every year, not March 20th, so Orthodox Easter was in the following lunar month. The next astronomical full moon after March 28th was on April 27th at 3:00 Universal time (5:21 Jerusalem time). This was a Saturday, so the Sunday following this full moon was April 28th. However, the Orthodox moon was not full until May 1st, so Orthodox Easter was on May 5th. Clearly the Orthodox churches use neither the true equinox nor the true moon.