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The Battle between
Carnival and Lent
Pieter Bruegel the Elder 1559 [more] |
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 The "Edict of Milan" (AD 313)
declared that the Roman Empire would be neutral with
regard to religious worship, officially ending all
government-sanctioned persecution, especially of
Christianity. The Edict was issued in the names of the
Western tetrarch Constantine the Great, and Licinius,
the Eastern tetrarch. |
 |
Porphyry found that
the genealogies of Matthew and Luke conflicted with each
other, and he pointed to their conflicting descriptions
of Jesus' infancy. Against the claim that the apostles
were infallible, Porphyry asked why then did Peter and
Paul quarrel. Believing in a God who was the author of
good, Porphyry thought the idea of God's eternal
punishment was nonsense. He believed that good came to
people through their connecting themselves with God. He
believed that people could see only a part of the whole
but that it was their duty to wed their minds to God as
best they could. Evil, he believed, came from people
deviating from an awareness of God.
Porphyry who succeeded and popularized the neo-Platonism
of Plotinus throughout the Roman Empire just prior to
Constantine changing the world by becoming the
first Christian emperor in 306AD. |
|
Rome's Decline and Christianity's
Ascent, to 306 CE at fsmitha.com
|
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| Among the
church laws, called canons the council
promulgated twenty was prohibition of
self-castration; |
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| Christianity developed in a
world of highly syncretistic religion; Alexander
the Great and thereby Hellenic culture had
overrun much of the civilized Near Eastern world
and influenced many local religions. Despite
this milieu, mystery religions weren't to become
popular in what would become known as the
province of Judea. There are parallels to be
observed, however, between how early orthodox
Christianity developed and some aspects of
gnostic mystery religions |
|
Trinity &
among the 3 monotheistic traditions |
The fiercely monotheistic
Jews rejected the idea of the Trinity since it
first arose, it has been similarly rejected by
Islam since that religion was founded, and many
other men and women of all backgrounds have
found the concept difficult to understand or
accept.
 The word "Trinity" is not
found in the New Testament, nor is the doctrine
explicitly taught there. However, foundations of
the concept of the Trinity can be seen in the
New Testament, especially in the Gospel of John,
one of the latest and most theologically
developed of the New Testament books.
Hints of Trinitarian beliefs
can also be seen in the teachings of
extra-biblical writers as early as the end of
the first century. However, the clearest early
expression of the concept came with Tertullian,
a Latin theologian who wrote in the early third
century. Tertullian coined the words "Trinity"
and "person" and explained that the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit were "one in essence - not one
in Person."
About a century later, in 325, the Council of
Nicea set out to officially define the
relationship of the Son to the Father. The council
established the doctrine of the Trinity as
orthodoxy and condemned Arius' any variation on
its creed. The creed
adopted by the council described Christ as "God
of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousios)
with the Father."
Nicea did not end the controversy, however.
Debate over how the creed (especially the phrase
"one substance") ought to be interpreted
continued to rage for decades. One group
advocated the doctrine that Christ was a
"similar substance" (homoiousios) as the Father.
But for the most part, the issue of the Trinity
was settled at Nicea and, by the fifth century,
never again became a focus of serious
controversy.
Most post-Nicene theological discussion of the
Trinity consisted of attempts to understand and
explain such a unique concept. Gregory of Nyssa,
in his treatise, That There are Not Three Gods,
compared the divinity shared by the three
persons of the Trinity to the common
"humanness," or human nature, that is shared by
individual human beings. (Ironically, this
initially promising explanation has been seen by
some to yield a conclusion quite opposite than
the title of his work.) |
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Although
everyone takes the path he or she makes through
the universe, collaboration has always been
inherent to the spiritual path. The singular
trajectory of the individual is unique and
indeed treasured for its originality. The value
of what each one of us knows about the mystery
of life shines like a thread in the tapestry of
the complex weave that unites all beings in that
mystery.
- Diane de Prima, American
poet |
|
Gnostic scripture |
| The Sacred Texts that did not make the
cut |
 |
| The Nag Hammadi Library, a
collection of thirteen ancient codices
containing over fifty texts, was discovered in
upper Egypt in 1945. This immensely important
discovery includes a large number of primary
Gnostic scriptures -- texts once thought to have
been entirely destroyed during the early
Christian struggle to define "orthodoxy" --
scriptures such as the Gospel of Thomas, the
Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth
Gnostic Christians believed that they acquired knowledge through revelations
from God - not from sense experience coupled with mental processing and not
from the interpretations of priests. They believed that God was egalitarian
in distributing his revelations and that bishops might be among those who
had been denied revelations. Some bishops saw this view of revelation as a
threat to their authority. And to address this issue, bishops met in the
year 172 and together denounced Gnosticism.
The Gnostics cherished the ongoing force of divine revelation--Gnosis was
the creative experience of revelation, a rushing progression of
understanding, and not a static creed. Carl Gustav Jung, the great Swiss
psychologist and a life-long student of Gnosticism in its various historical
permutations, affirms,
…We find in Gnosticism what was lacking in the centuries that
followed: a belief in the efficacy of individual revelation and
individual knowledge. This belief was rooted in the proud feeling of
man's affinity with the gods....
Primary among all the revelatory
perceptions a Gnostic might reach was the profound awakening that came with
knowledge that something within him was uncreated. The Gnostics called this
"uncreated self" the divine seed, the pearl, the spark of knowing:
consciousness, intelligence, light.
Gnostic experience was mythopoetic: in story and metaphor, and perhaps
also in ritual enactments, Gnosticism sought expression of subtle, visionary
insights inexpressible by rational proposition or dogmatic affirmation. For
the Gnostics, revelation was the nature of Gnosis. Irritated by their
profusion of "inspired texts" and myths, Ireneaus complains in his classic
second century refutation of Gnosticism, that “…every one of them generates
something new, day by day, according to his ability; for no one is deemed
perfect, who does not develop...some mighty fiction.” |
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"Carnival is not
a spectacle seen by the people; they live in it,
and everyone participates because its very idea
embraces all the people. While carnival lasts,
there is no other life outside it. During
carnival time life is subject only to its laws,
that is, the laws of its own freedom. It has a
universal spirit; it is a special condition of
the entire world, of the world's revival and
renewal, in which all take part. Such is the
essence of carnival, vividly felt by all its
participants."
Mikhail Bakhtin
Rabelais and His
World
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First
Council of Nicea - 325 AD |
The boundaries of
modern day Carnaval, began with the formation of the
hierarchy of Christendom following their first ever
meeting.
called by the Emperor Constantine. The formerly official
religion of Sol Invictus, as well as the followers of
Isis
and Bacchus
were the big losers. The church took over their much
honored feast days by moving the date of celebration of
Jesus' birth to December 25th where the official Roman
religion recognizing the birth of Mithras was
celebrated, as well as that of many cultures that
recognized the return of the sun at winter solstice
festivals in the great consolidation of traditions that
made up the Roman
Saturnalia midwinter
holiday. Carnaval, or the ancient pagan festivals the
church was not able to repress, were given the
time zone between the Twelfth Night [6JAN] and Ash
Wednesday [40 days & 6 Sundays before Easter]
The Council also
adopted the first Sunday following the Vernal Equinox
for Easter which created the moving date for Carnaval.
This had somewhat of a historical basis since it is
believed Jesus was crucified during the Jewish Passover
holiday which occurs mid-April. One of the more
compelling reasons for the Council was to change the
date from being too closely associated with the Jewish
holiday. It should also be noted that the two
large goddess cults of Isis and
Cybele had their
main festival seasons in the early Spring months of
March and April which would now be off-limits due to the
official observance of Lent.
The bishops decreed in
regard to the Passover that "there must be one
unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and
supremely excellent day."
Invitations to all the
bishops in Christendom were sent, 318 bishops together
with 1500 in staff gathered at the Council of Nicea
(near Istanbul, Turkey today) from all around the world.
This council, convoked by the Roman Emperor
Constantine the Great in AD 325, was the first
ecumenical "worldwide" conference of bishops of
the Christian Church.
The purpose of the council or synod was to resolve
disagreements in the Church of Alexandria over the
nature of the Trinity: in particular whether Jesus was
of the same or of similar substance as God the Father.
St. Alexander of Alexandria took the first position; the
popular presbyter Arius, from whom the term Arian
controversy comes, took the second. The council decided
against the Arians. After the June 19 settlement of the
most important topic, the question of the date of the
Christian Passover, now called Easter, was brought up.
This feast is linked to
the Jewish Passover, as crucifixion and resurrection of
Jesus occurred during that festival. By the year 300,
most Churches had adopted the Western style of
celebrating the feast on the Sunday after the Passover,
placing the emphasis on the resurrection, which occurred
on a Sunday. Others however celebrated the feast on the
14th of the Jewish month Nisan, the date of the
crucifixion according to the Bible's Hebrew calendar.
Alexandria and Rome, however, followed a different
calculation, attributed to Pope Soter, so that Christian
Passover would never coincide with the Jewish observance
and decided in favour of celebrating on the first Sunday
after the spring equinox, independently of the Bible's
Hebrew calendar. Lent was another matter, the purpose of
self-examination and penitence, demonstrated by
self-denial, in preparation for Easter was followed
widely and varied greatly. Early church father Irenaus
of Lyons (c.130-c.200) wrote of such a season in the
earliest days of the church, but it lasted only two or
three days.
Constantine did play an important role
at the Council. Eusebius of Caesarea reports that he
played an key part in calming, convincing, and bringing
all to agreement on contested points. The account of
Eusebius fairly glows in regard to the Emperor, and he
is portrayed as a key figure.
The major concern at the conference
greatly agitated Emperor Constantine, and he sent a
letter to Arius and Alexander in an attempt to persuade
them to lay aside their differences. He wrote,
"This contention has not arisen respecting any important
command of the law, nor has any new opinion been
introduced with regard to the worship of God; but you
both entertain the same sentiments, so that you may join
in one communion. It is thought to be not only
indecorous, but altogether unlawful, that so numerous a
people of God should be governed and directed at your
pleasure, while you are thus emulously contending with
each other, and quarrelling about small and very
trifling matters."
The Council of Nicea condemned the
beliefs of Arius and wrote the first version of the now
famous creed proclaiming that the Son was "one in being
with the Father" by use of the Greek word "homoousius."
On July 25, 325, in
conclusion, the fathers of the council celebrated the
emperor's twentieth anniversary. In his valedictory
address, Constantine again informed his hearers how
averse he was to dogmatic controversy; he wanted the
Church to live in harmony and peace. In a circular
letter, he announced the accomplished unity of practice
by the whole Church in the date of the celebration of
Christian Passover
|
Mithras Sol Invictus |
 By the end of the 3rd century, the popular cults of
Apollo and Mithras had started to merge into the
syncretism known as Mithras Sol Invictus or simply Sol
Invictus (the unconquerable sun—a term also used by
other cults), and in 274 the emperor Aurelian (whose
mother had been a priestess of the sun) made worship of
this form official.Mithas is thought to have its ultimate origin in
the cult of Mithra, a deity connected to popular forms
of Zoroastrianism (though it is important to note that
strictly, early Zoroastrianism is dualist, and modern
Zoroastrianism is monotheist, and neither includes
Mithra). The caste of priests of the Zoroastrian
religion were the Magi, who were considered both to be
holy men and astronomers. [more] |
Clement was born Titus
Flavius Clemens in Athens, Greece. His
trilogy, the Protrepticushas been called boldest
literary undertaking in the history of the
Church, since in it Clement for the first time
attempted to set forth Christianity for the
faithful in the traditional forms of secular
literature. Clement is also the most sited source for
descriptions of the mystery traditions he was attempting
to displace.
| The Mysteries |
|
"What if I were to give you an account of the
mysteries? I shall not caricature them, as
Alkibiades is said to have done, but, in
accordance with the truth, I shall lay bare the
sorcery hidden in them and I shall parade before
the spectators of the truth as if on the stage
of life the so-called gods for which your mystic
cults are celebrated. " |
|
according to
Clement |
|
"The Mysteries, then,
are only old customs, empty superstitions and venerated
deceptions of the Serpent in which men give themselves
to initiations which are in fact non-initiations and to
rituals which are devoid of religion.
"What
are the contents of the chests of the mysteries? It is
necessary to reveal the sacred things of these cults and
to say out loud what is supposed to be unsaid. Are they
not cakes made of sesame, in the shape of pyramids and
balls, cakes with many navels, lumps of salt, and a
snake, the cult symbol of Dionysos Bassaros? Are they
not pomegranates, fig branches, fennel stalks, ivy
leaves, round cakes and poppies? These are their holy
things! In addition there are the not-to-be-mentioned
sacred objects of Ge Themis: oregano, a lamp, a sword,
and a woman's comb which is a euphemism in the cults for
the female genitalia. What undisguised shamelessness! In
the past for men of decency night was a silent cover of
their pleasure but nowadays for those to be initiated
the night is full of suggestions and a stimulus to
licentiousness and perversions convict the fire kindled
for the mystic rituals. Put out your fire, Hierophant!
Be ashamed of your torches, Dadouchos! The light
convicts your Iacchos. Entrust your mysteries to the
night! Let the rituals be honoured with darkness! The
fire has a real role in this: its duty is both to
convict and to punish.
Such
are the Mysteries of the godless. It is right for me to
call "godless" men who have remained ignorant of the
true God and worship shamelessly a child dismembered by
the Titans ,a grief-stricken woman and parts of the body
which modesty rightly forbids me to mention.
|
The Protrepticus forms an
introduction inviting the reader to listen, not
to the mythical legends of the gods, but to the
"new song" of the Logos, the beginning of all
things and creator of the world. He demonstrates
the folly of idolatry and the pagan mysteries,
the horrors of pagan sacrifice, and shows that
the Greek philosophers and poets only guessed at
the truth, while the prophets set forth a direct
way to salvation; and now the divine Logos
speaks in his own person, to awaken all that is
good in the soul of man and to lead it to
immortality.
Among the Hellenized who converted to
Christianity was a Greek student and scholar of
philosophy named Clement, who lived in
Alexandria. He was one of a few men of wealth
and property who joined the Christians. Unlike
Tertullian, Clement maintained a respect for
scholarship. He was an admirer of Plato's
philosophy, and he was the first to attempt to
synthesize Christianity and Plato. He accepted
Plato's description of God as infinite and
eternal, transcendent and independent. He saw
the universe as God's perfection, and he saw
Jesus as God's ultimate revelation and as
humanity's guide and instructor.
Clement became an intellectual leader of
Alexandria's Christian community and the head of
a school for Christians. He advised his fellow
Christians to seek other than a literal
interpretation of scripture, suggesting that
they interpret some scripture symbolically and
as messages for the heart. To Clement, the
message in Matthew about a camel passing through
the eye of a needle more easily than the rich
entering the kingdom of heaven was obviously a
message of symbolism, and he interpreted it not
as a command to give up one's possessions but as
inspiration to banish from one's mind excess
desires for property or worries about property
that interfered with spirituality. Clement
claimed that poverty was not in itself
worthwhile. Having property, he said, frees one
from the effort and distress of acquisition and
enables one to practice charity. We must not
renounce the wealth which "benefits our
neighbors... as well as ourselves," he wrote.
Wealth, he added, "is furnished by God for the
welfare of man."
Clement also spoke against the belief that
sex was sinful and that Adam and Eve had sinned
by engaging in it. He described sex as necessary
in procreation and a part of god's creation. But
he claimed that it had to be regulated by
obedience to what was good and decent.
Clement's views remained acceptable to the
bishops, fitting as it did with the successful
growth of the Church, with the Church's
hierarchical order and with its belief in
charity and acceptance of donations. Clement
would come to be considered one of the Church's
early "fathers" and one of the leaders in
forming early Christian theology.
CHRISTIAN
ANTAGONISM
|
Persecutions of
Christians only became state sponsored
systematized ruthlessness in the third
century. This was a response to the
perceived threat of the growing
Christian infrastructure and hierarchy
to undermine the public order of
religious diversity. The new faith
mocked the centuries old traditions by
demonizing the deities of Rome.
Christianity was antagonistic towards
Roman tradition, a polarizing force of
divine threats and demands in a
pluralist religious society. In a world
of interfaith marriages, they separated
themselves from society and forbade
their sons and daughters to marry a
non-Christian.
"It
followed in their logic, or at least in
their practice, that no deity could
inflict wrong on another. In Homer's
day, perhaps, things had been different.
That was long ago and mere myth. Only
the Christian propagandists recalled it,
to raise laughs, or eyebrows, against
their rivals. Living worshipers in the
world we are considering instead entered
a shrine of Isis to put up a vow or an
altar to Aphrodite, and the priest let
them. They worshiped Mithras in Hadad's
temple. West or east, wherever one
looked, there reigned a truly divine
peace and undisturbed religious
toleration".
Classical
scholar Ramsay MacMullen, in his
Christianizing the Roman Empire: A.D.
100-400: , pg 13, |
|
| Constantine |
Constantine was born around
272 in the area we now call Serbia. At the time,
his father was a successful and popular military
officer named Constantius (I). Constantius would
attain the ranks of Tribune, Provincial Governor
and probably Pretorian Prefect before he would
be acclaimed Ceasar in Diocletian's Tetrarchy in
293.
|
324 A.D. |
Constantine
becomes undisputed emperor of
the Roman Empire eliminating the
Tetrarchy
established by Emperor Diolecten
in 293 AD |
|
325 A.D. |
Council of Nicea;
Eusebius writes his Church
History |
|
c. 332 A.D. |
Bishop Eusebius
of Caesarea is ordered by
Constantine to create 50 volumes
"on prepared parchment" of the
Holy Scriptures |
|
c. 325 - 350 A.D. |
Codex Vaticanus
created; contains the complete
New Testament as we have it
today |
|
During the time Constantius rose to power,
Constantine was 'kept' in the court of
Diocletian and then that of Galerius as a deal
to keep Constantius' loyalty. After convincing
Galerius that Constantine was needed in Britain
to fight the Picts, Constantine joined his
father in early 306. Meanwhile, Diocletian and
Galerius decided to retire and Constantius was
elevated to Augustus in May of 305. A little
more than a year after his acclamation,
Constantius became ill and died. By this time,
Constantine had become a popular leader so the
solders declared him Augustus. Of the four
Ceasars, Constantius was the mildest in his
implemetation of Diocletian's persecution of
Christans. When Constantine came to power, he
unofficially ended the persecutions in his
region of authority. At this point he still
offered up to Mars and to Apollo; to Sol
Invinctus.
 |
| One could argue that Jesus may have
founded the Christian Faith, but that Constantine
founded the Christian Church. |
Lactantius, tells us that (in 312) Constantine had
a dream in which he was commanded to place the
sign of Christ on his soldier's shields. In the
pagan world of the time, it was normal for the
gods to communicate thru dreams.
In a crucial battle to gain control of
the Roman empire, Constantine used a Christian symbol as
his banner and so gained the support of the Christians
among the warriors drawn up to fight at the Milvian
Bridge, Constantine won the battle and rewarded his
supporters by decreeing that Christianity would
henceforth be tolerated.
The life of Constantine would become a pivotal
period in the history of both the empire and of
Europe. His decisions would change everything.
Constantine's Christianity had a sort of pagan
beginning.
The Emperor Constantine I was, like emperors before him,
high priest of the Mithraic religion. However, he was
also interested in creating unity for the sake of ease
of governance, and to this end involved himself in a
dispute between Christian groups over the definition of
the Holy Trinity and the determination of the
date for Easter,
summoning the First Council of Nicaea.
 |
| Constantine instituted use of
the Chi-Rho symbol, representative of Christianity, also
alleged by some scholars to have had use as an obeloi
for "auspicious" thus serving both Christian and
non-Christian purpose simultaneously. |
In 330, Constantine
established the eastern Roman capital at
Constantinople, a new city without the pagan
traditions of Rome.
Constantine later required the bishops to
regularize the practice of their faith. In
the same year, he ordered the Christian leaders
to decide which of their secret books were to be
accepted as representing the true faith. The
result of their work was the canon, the Bible in essentially its
present form
Constantine, legend has it, that he was baptized a Christian on his
deathbed. Whether that is true or not, he had turned a
disorganized and persecuted ghetto faith into a
respected institution, had seen that it triumphed over
its competitors, and had shaped it into an eminently
Roman institution.
|
| Emperor
Theodosius Bans Pagan Religions |
Less than a century after
Constantine's Council of Nicea, the east's
Emperor Theodosius banned all pagan worship,
sought to destroy their temples and
made Christianity the only acceptable religion
of the empire. By formally banning any religion
other than Christianity, Europe embarked on a
long journey of religious intolerance that
wouldn't begin to be overcome until the European
Enlightenment and the American experiment.
In February, 380, Theodosius and Gratian issued
their decree which wiped out religious diversity
and any religious liberty that remained:
Theodosian Code 16.1.2:
"We desire that all peoples subject to Our
benign Empire shall live under the same religion
that the Divine Peter, the Apostle, gave to the
Romans, and which the said religion declares was
introduced by himself, and which it is well
known that the Pontiff Damascus, and Peter,
Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic
sanctity, embraced; that is to say, in
accordance with the rules of apostolic
discipline and the evangelical doctrine, we
should believe that the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit constitute a single Deity, endowed with
equal majesty, and united in the Holy Trinity."
"We order all those who follow this law to
assume the name of Catholic Christians, and
considering others as demented and insane, we
order that they shall bear the infamy of heresy;
and when the Divine vengeance which they merit
has been appeased, they shall afterwards be
punished in accordance with Our resentment,
which we have acquired from the judgment of
Heaven."
Pope
apologizes for sins of church
March 13, 2000
Pope John Paul II issued an apology for errors
of his church over the last 2000 years. His
homily did not single out specific periods or
groups in history but a plea to forgive the use
of violence in the service of truth
"We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course
of history have caused these children of yours
to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish
to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with
the people of the Covenant.
---POPE JOHN PAUL II |
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The Battle
between Carnival and Lent
Pieter Bruegel the Elder 1559 [more] |
|
Twelfth Night |
=
Carnaval Season Begins
the evening of the fifth of January, preceding
Twelfth Day, or "the eve of the Epiphany" In New
Orleans, Louisiana, the night of January 6 with
the first Carnival celebrations is called
Twelfth Night |
Long-time conventional wisdom
has told us that the church's only contribution
to Carnaval was naming it to emphasize it's
ending prior to the 40 days of fasting for Lent
in preparation for Easter. Others now believe,
that the term "Carnaval" does not originate from
the Italian "carne" = meat and "vale" = goodbye,
but from the Latin "carrus navalis"; =
the ship of fools. In the city of Babylon a
magnificently decorated ship on
wheels, pulled by the faithful, was brought to
the temple of the god Marduk. Similar "ship
chariots" were part of the rites honoring the
Egyptian goddess Isis.
However the first illustration of a ship being
used as a float in a parade was done by the
Greeks in honor of
Dionysus in
Athens in the 6th century B.C.
 |
"Fastnacht" translates as "Eve
of the beginning of the fast,"
This is how Carnaval is known in Germany and
Switzerland
|
|
The final fires of Carnival which varies
from "Juan Carnival" "a giant sardine" great
paper-mache figures, or simply a huge fire are
related to the Church's insisting on a visible
end to Carnival celebrations and on a public
"burning of the spirit of Fasnacht." |
The
King Cake
tradition was brought to the Mobile-New Orleans
area by colonists from France and Spain where it
it still celebrate. Legend has it that the cakes
began in France and were made in a circle to
represent the circular routes that the Wise Men
took to find Jesus, in order to confuse King
Herod and foil his plans of killing the Christ
Child. The season for king cake is begins from
the Twelfth Night or Epiphany, 6 January,
through Mardi Gras Day. The person who gets the
king piece often with a baby but sometimes a
bean or a King with a crown becomes King or
Queen for the day. They may even be in charge of
the next King cake party. |
Shrove Tuesday
The name ‘Shrove’
comes from the archaic English word ‘to shrive’,
which means to confess or hear confessions of
sin, the ancient practice of being “shriven”
in order to begin and keep a holy Lent. |
|
Fat Tuesday or in French "Mardi Gras"
refers to the feast before the fast of the Lenten
season. This is also know as Pancake Day in England
and other places since pancakes were popular as
families ate the last of the eggs and butter
that they were allowed before Lent.
|
Twelve
Days & Candlemas
In the
Western church, the feast of Christmas was
established before that of Epiphany. Over time
the West decided to celebrate Christmas on
December 25. The East continued to treat January
6 as the day marking Jesus's birth. This has
given rise in the west to the notion of a
twelve-day festival, starting on December 25,
and ending on January 6, called the twelve days
of Christmas, although some Christian cultures —
especially those of Latin America — extend it to
forty days, ending on Candlemas, or February 2
|
| Epiphany
January 6 |
Epiphany
(Greek: επιφάνεια, "the appearance; miraculous
phenomenon") is a Christian feast intended to
celebrate the 'shining forth' or revelation of
God to mankind in human form, in the person of
Jesus. The observance had its origins in the
eastern Christian churches, and included the
birth of Jesus; the visit of the Magi, or Wise
Men (traditionally named Caspar, Melchior and
Balthasar) who arrived in Bethlehem; and all of
Jesus' childhood events, up to his baptism in
the Jordan by John the Baptist. Today in Eastern
Orthodox churches, the emphasis at this feast is
on the shining forth and revelation of Jesus
Christ as the Messiah and second person of the
Holy Trinity at the time of his baptism. It is
also celebrated because, according to tradition,
the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by St.
John the Baptist marked the only occasion when
all three persons of the Holy Trinity manifested
their physical presence simultaneously to
humanity: God the Father by speaking through the
clouds, God the Son being baptized in the river,
and God the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove
overflying the scene
The first reference to Epiphany in the Eastern
Church is a slighting remark by Clement of
Alexandria
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Ash Wednesday: Dust to Dust |
The
First Day of Lent:
Carnaval has Ended at Midnight on Fat Tuesday or
Mardi Gras |
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Until the
600s, Lent began on Quadragesima (Fortieth)
Sunday, but Gregory the Great (c.540-604) moved
it to a Wednesday, now called Ash Wednesday, to
secure the exact number of 40 days in Lent—not
counting Sundays, which were feast days.
Gregory, who is regarded as the father of the
medieval papacy, is also credited with the
ceremony that gives the day its name. As
Christians came to the church for forgiveness,
Gregory marked their foreheads with ashes
reminding them of the biblical symbol of
repentance (sackcloth and ashes) and mortality:
"You are dust, and to dust you will return"The
minister says "Remember, man, that you are dust,
and to dust you shall return."
It also marks the beginning of the Lenten fast Eastern Christianity starts
Great Lent on Clean Monday, which, due to
differences in the
calculation of Easter
and the length of Great Lent, is often later in
the year
Eventually, various foods
(like fish) were allowed, and in 1966 the
Roman Catholic church only restricted fast
days to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It
should be noted, however, that practices in
Eastern Orthodox churches are still quite
strict.
Lent is still devoutly
observed in some mainline Protestant
denominations The inspiration is from
Christ's fast for forty days and forty
nights in the desert. The Church has never
allowed Sundays to be kept as fast
days as they are by definition "feast days."
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Passover |
| The final
plague of the Plagues of Egypt, the killing of
all the firstborn like the other plagues, did
not affect Israelites. The Torah goes on to
state, that upon seeing the blood, God would
pass over the homes of the Israelites.
Passover is a Jewish holiday
central to Judaism. Before the holiday begins,
observant Jews will remove and discard all food
with leavening (called chametz) from their
households. It is traditional for a Jewish
family to gather for a special dinner called a
seder where the story of the Israelite
exodus from Egypt is retold by the reading the
seder prayer book, the Haggadah. |
The Nicene Creed
The
Nicene Creed
is
often used as a summation of Christian faith. It
is trinitarian statement which is also professed
by converts to Christianity when they receive
baptism, and at other times in the liturgy of
the church, particularly in the celebration of
the Eucharist.
Trinitarian Christians are baptized "In the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Thus, their Christian
life, and the Christian understanding of
salvation, typically begins with a declaration
related to the Trinity |
|
The Nicene Creed |
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living
and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the
giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and
glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic
Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness
of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen. |
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Jesus with
grapes |
| Jesus like Dionysus is a God in
human form, who dies and is resurrected, born of
a mortal mother by a divine father. Like Jesus,
Dionysus is a god whose tragic passion is
re-enacted by eating his flesh and drinking his
blood. Jesus like Dionysus, transformed water
into wine. Like Jesus, Dionysus is a miraculous god
associated with the immortality of the soul.
Like Christianity, the religion of Dionysus
spread like wildfire. Like Jesus, Dionysus is
the God of the visionary state achieved through
the sacrament.
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Compel Them To Come In |
| Saint Augustine, one of the greatest thinkers of
the early church, described the Trinity as
comparable to the three parts of an individual
human being: mind, spirit, and will. They are
three distinct aspects, yet they are inseparable
and together constitute one unified human being.
Augustine believed in
total uniformity of opinion and fought
all religious diversity as enemies of
God. With that belief accompanied the
conviction that persecution was a duty
of 'true believers'. By using force,
religious diversity was eliminated in
the name of the truth.
The Church historian FW
Farrar wrote:
"Augustine must bear the fatal charge of
being the first as well as one of the
ablest defenders of the frightful cause
of persecution and intolerance. He was
the first to misuse the words Compel
Them To Come In - a fragmentary phrase
wholly unsuited to bear the weight of
horror for which it was made
responsible. He was the first and ablest
asserter of the principle that led to
the Albigensian crusades, Spanish
armadas, Netherlands' butcheries, St
Bartholomew massacres, the accursed
infamies of the Inquisition, the vile
espionage, the hideous balefires of
Seville and Smithfield, the racks, the
gibbets, the thumbscrews, the
subterranean torture-chambers used by
churchly torturers who assumed 'the garb
and language of priests with the trade
and temper of executioners,' to sicken,
crush and horrify the Revolted
Conscience Of Mankind.... It is mainly
because of his later intolerance that
the influence of Augustine falls like a
dark shadow across the centuries. It is
thus that an Arnold of Citeaux, a
Torquemada, a Sprenger, an Alva, a
Philip The Second, a Mary Tudor, a
Charles IX and a Louis XIV can look up
to him as an authorizer of their
enormities, and quote his sentences to
defend some of the vilest crimes which
ever caused men to look with horror on
the religion of Christ and the Church of
God."
Justinian would also
continue the work of Constantine and
Theodosius in persecuting Christian
heresy. Like Constantine, Theodosius,
Ambrose, Cyril, Martin, Chysostom and
Augustine, he was convinced that the
empire's stability required a rigid,
totalistic, empire wide conformity to
the Nicene Creed. Justinian's Codex and
Novella parts of the Corpus Juris
Civilis were specificly designed to wipe
out religious diversity. They were
written to secure and protect the Nicene
Chuch with the might and law of the
empire. Christianity may have never have
grown to its proportions without
imperial might because of the popularity
of paganism.
Pagans had always said that Christianity
offered them nothing new; they had their
virgin births, their miracles, their
Godmen and their resurrections. In this
Christian emperor's view, it was for the
good of the empire to wipe out
individual choice. Ironicly, heresy
means "choice". To Justinian,
choice meant disorder. To the Christian
emperor, individuality meant chaos
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