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Happy (Astronomical) Easter!

Started by CNGL-Leudimin, March 24, 2019, 12:54:37 PM

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CNGL-Leudimin

Today is the Sunday following the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox. This means it should be Easter, but strangely it is not, and it won't be until April 21, almost one month later. So how all of this happened? Here is a brief explanation.

The Church defines the Spring Equinox as being always on March 21, which in reality was not (and in fact it won't be on March 21 for the remainder of the 21st Century, at least on UTC), and observes the Full Moon as being always 14 days after a New Moon. Since there was a New Moon on March 6, they counted a Full Moon on March 20 (and it was the case in the USA, but not on UTC), thereby delaying Easter until the next Full Moon, due April 18 (the latest possible date). But the reality was that the Equinox was on March 20 at 21:58 UTC (3:58 p.m. Central Standard/Mountain), while the Full Moon followed on March 21 at 1:42 UTC (7:42 p.m. of March 20 Central Standard/Mountain). Which makes March 24, today, the date for Astronomical Easter 2019. The last time observed Easter didn't match Astronomical Easter occurred in 1998 (with a Full Moon barely into Easter Sunday, which caused Astronomical Easter to be the following week), and will next happen in 2038 (same glitch as today).

As a side note, while observed Easter can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25, Astronomical Easter can be in a sightly wider date range: March 21 to April 26. However, these extremes are extremely rare: For Astronomical Easter to be on April 26 it requires the Full Moon to be just before the Spring Equinox, and both to be truly on March 21. This would make the next Full Moon April 19, and if that date is Sunday, then Astronomical Easter would be on April 26 (next happens in 2201, with observed Easter on April 19). While for Astronomical Easter to be on March 21, it requires a situation like this year but with both Equinox and Full Moon on March 20, and that date be a Saturday. In that case Astronomical Easter would be on March 21 (next happens in 2877, with observed Easter on April 25. While observed Easter on April 25 next happens in 2038, the March Full Moon is on March 21, thus making Astronomical Easter March 28).

Oh, and I should mention a convention in Aleppo in 1997 proposed to make Astronomical Easter the observed Easter for all Christians, however the Orthodox wouldn't follow suit.
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english si

Easter has never been defined by any Christian authority as "the Sunday following the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox".

Before it was "the Sunday following the first Full Moon after March 21st*" (per the councils), it was mostly related to the Jewish calendar (which was awkward in areas that didn't have many Jews - hence the councils' desire to create an independent method of calculation. And it didn't help that the Jewish calendar varied from city to city!).

The most universal pre-council definition of "the Sunday after 14 Nisan" would put Easter this year on April 21 (matching, like most years, the council-defined date).

*it's not even that, but calculated tables designed to mimic that concept - which used to fall short, though Gregory's reforms (and much more complex calculations) make it pretty much indistinguishable.

abefroman329

Quote from: english si on March 24, 2019, 07:10:18 PM
Easter has never been defined by any Christian authority as "the Sunday following the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox".

Before it was "the Sunday following the first Full Moon after March 21st*" (per the councils), it was mostly related to the Jewish calendar (which was awkward in areas that didn't have many Jews - hence the councils' desire to create an independent method of calculation. And it didn't help that the Jewish calendar varied from city to city!).

The most universal pre-council definition of "the Sunday after 14 Nisan" would put Easter this year on April 21 (matching, like most years, the council-defined date).

*it's not even that, but calculated tables designed to mimic that concept - which used to fall short, though Gregory's reforms (and much more complex calculations) make it pretty much indistinguishable.
Apparently scholars are backing off the theory that the Last Supper was a Passover seder.

kphoger

Quote from: abefroman329 on March 25, 2019, 11:09:05 AM
Apparently scholars are backing off the theory that the Last Supper was a Passover seder.

Despite the verses below:

On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?"  He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, "˜The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.  [Matthew 26:17-19]

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?"  So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, "˜The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."  So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.  [Mark 14:12-16]

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it."  They asked him, "Where do you want us to make preparations for it?"  "Listen,"  he said to them, "when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, "˜The teacher asks you, "Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" ' He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there."  So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."   [Luke 22:7-16]


The issue is that John's Gospel says it was the day before, not the day of.  Since the other three gospel accounts are obviously drawing from the same tradition, there are basically two traditions:  that of Matthew & Mark & Luke, and that of John.  Which one is the more literally accurate (and which one was modified in order to fit into the writer's narrative) is debated.  And that's not a simple matter:  scholars trying to reconstruct a timeline of drafts and revisions of each of the gospel accounts–with each apparently relying on one another at times but also introducing unique material at other times–is a labyrinthine process.
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Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

abefroman329

Quote from: kphoger on March 25, 2019, 02:09:26 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on March 25, 2019, 11:09:05 AM
Apparently scholars are backing off the theory that the Last Supper was a Passover seder.

Despite the verses below:

On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?"  He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, "˜The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'"  So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.  [Matthew 26:17-19]

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?"  So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, "˜The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."  So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.  [Mark 14:12-16]

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it."  They asked him, "Where do you want us to make preparations for it?"  "Listen,"  he said to them, "when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, "˜The teacher asks you, "Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" ' He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there."  So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."   [Luke 22:7-16]


The issue is that John's Gospel says it was the day before, not the day of.  Since the other three gospel accounts are obviously drawing from the same tradition, there are basically two traditions:  that of Matthew & Mark & Luke, and that of John.  Which one is the more literally accurate (and which one was modified in order to fit into the writer's narrative) is debated.  And that's not a simple matter:  scholars trying to reconstruct a timeline of drafts and revisions of each of the gospel accounts–with each apparently relying on one another at times but also introducing unique material at other times–is a labyrinthine process.
Isn't one of the four Gospels generally thought of as being the most historically accurate?

kphoger

Quote from: abefroman329 on March 25, 2019, 03:48:02 PM
Isn't one of the four Gospels generally thought of as being the most historically accurate?

It's very complicated.  The first three gospels mirror each other in great part–not just in content but even in vocabulary and sentence structure.  Textual critics can see in these comparisons that (a) they drew from existing material that is no longer extant, and also that (b) they knew of and used each other's material.  It's quite likely, for example, that both Matthew and Mark went through a series of perhaps two or three revisions before ending up in the final form we have today.  Mark's first draft was probably the earliest first draft, but Matthew's final form was probably the earliest final form.  Even between those three (the synoptic gospels), there are variances in timeline order, story details, etc–which on the one hand helps scholars try and recreate the chain of revisions, but on the other hand makes it a sticky question as to which one is more "historically accurate".  John deviates in form, grammar, vocabulary, and even theology quite substantially from the synoptic gospels.  As was typical of literature in that time period, the writers sometimes bent the order of events to conform with their overall narrative structure.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Rothman

There is some idea that each gospel was written for particular audiences:  Jewish, non-Jewish, Christians...
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Buck87

Quote from: Rothman on March 25, 2019, 10:33:07 PM
There is some idea that each gospel was written for particular audiences:  Jewish, non-Jewish, Christians...

I've seen something similar, only it was:

Matthew for Jews
Mark for Romans
Luke for Greeks
John for everyone

Rothman

Quote from: Buck87 on March 26, 2019, 08:57:20 AM
Quote from: Rothman on March 25, 2019, 10:33:07 PM
There is some idea that each gospel was written for particular audiences:  Jewish, non-Jewish, Christians...

I've seen something similar, only it was:

Matthew for Jews
Mark for Romans
Luke for Greeks
John for everyone
Yeah, that's probably it. :D
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.



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