Although I was raised a JW, I have never understood why they celebrated the Memorial on a different day than Easter. Can someone explain?
Grewupjw
Question regarding the memorial
by grewupjw1969 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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yknot
Cuz Easter rarely falls on Nisan 14.........
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grewupjw1969
So the JW's are correct in celebrating it on the days that they do?
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yknot
The WTS places emphasis on the date mentioned in the Bible as a literal and only day to observe.....
However the Bible doesn't say it has to be observed in a similar manner as say the Passover........ so it is left to interpretation.
Some faiths observe weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannually and as the WTS does....
Remember the 'Memorial' is Jesus passing stuff as a covenant ritual, Easter is a celebration of Christ resurrection....
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WTWizard
Easter is based on the first full moon of spring. The REJECT Jesus Party is on the night when the full moon happens. If it goes full after midnight, they will hold the REJECT Jesus Party that evening because it will still be on Nisan 14. Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon, which is why it cannot be on March 21. If the full moon is right after the vernal equinox, Easter will be early. If the full moon is right before the vernal equinox, Easter will be later.
But, sometimes the full moon is just before the vernal equinox, and Nisan 14 is out of sync. Easter will be in mid- or late April, but the REJECT Jesus Party will be in March. I actually saw that happen one year.
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AnnOMaly
Simply speaking, the date of Easter Sunday (Western Christianity) is based on the Sunday after the first full moon that falls on/after the spring equinox.
Passover (Nisan 15 - calculating from astronomical new moon) occurs around the first full moon after the spring equinox. JWs calculate similarly (Nisan 14- calculating from the first visible new moon crescent). Sometimes the JWs' calculations lead to a day's difference, and on occasion a month's difference if the Jews have added a leap month to their calendar.
So the JW's are correct in celebrating it on the days that they do?
There's some debate on whether Jesus died on Nisan 14 or Nisan 15. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartodeciman to give you a rough idea about it.
Ah ha. I see the Wiz has beaten me to it! LOL.
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wobble
As JW's have got most things wrong, even following their torturous reasoning as to how to calculate when the corresponding night to Jesus inaugural meal is, they have proabably still got it all wrong.
Dear Jacob Malik (RIP) did a thread on it on here years ago that showed they had totally misread what the Bible says on it, no surprise there, they ain't the brightest of scholars.
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Quendi
If the first full moon that follows the March equinox falls on a Sunday, then Easter is postponed until the following Sunday. That is the case in 2011. The full moon will occur on 17 April, but since that is a Sunday, Easter will be celebrated the next Sunday. That is what makes Easter come very late this year, as late as I can ever recall it occurring.
The reason for this goes back to the fourth century. At that time, there was a dispute about when to celebrate the Lord's Supper. Some maintained that the only proper date was 14 Nisan which corresponded to the first full moon after the March equinox. Others said that while the Lord's Supper was indeed important, the Resurrection was even more so, and since Christ rose from the dead on the Sunday which followed that full moon, they preferred to observe that. To keep their Easter celebration separate from that of the Quartodecimans, or the "Fourteenthers" who insisted on the 14 Nisan observance, steps were taken to make sure the two celebrations were separate.
Passover figures into this as well. There is almost always a full moon for Passover since it falls on "the fourteenth day" of the lunar month of Nisan. A lunar month always begins with the new moon, making the fourteenth day the one on which the full moon will occur. Very often the Witness observance of their Memorial will correspond to Passover's date, or will come a day or so either side of it. That is not the case this year with the Memorial falling on the 17th and Passover beginning on the 19th of April.
The Memorial will almost always come before Easter. Very rarely will the two fall on the same day. That is also the case for Easter and Passover. In 2012 the first full moon after the March equinox occurs on Friday, 6 April. Passover will be observed that day after sundown. Easter will come on Sunday, 8 April. Jehovah's Witnesses will likely observe the Memorial that Friday, but there is also a chance the Governing Body will choose Saturday, 7 April for the "celebration". I don't know if next year's date has already been determined.
Quendi
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cheerios
wobble: " Dear Jacob Malik (RIP) did a thread on it on here years ago that showed they had totally misread what the Bible says on it, no surprise there, they ain't the brightest of scholars."
those scholars may not be the brightest, but they are 'celebrated' ...
LOLOLOLOL (sorry couldnt keep my face straight)
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james_woods
Two things come to mind -
First, Easter (the celebration of the Christ resurrection) - would logically happen on the nearest sidereal day of the original. But, nothing about Easter is actually stated in the bible. You could make a thin connection with the references to "feasts". But, it had to have been made up as a celebration extra-bible in origin.
Second, the Memorial is not stated in the bible as a "memorial" per se - Jesus stated it as a necessary religious festival and did not say what day or how often it was to be done. More a bonding ritual with Christ than a memorial of his death, IMHO.
"As often as you do this" -
Which traditional Christianity has considered to be practially year round.