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Living Section of the San Bernardino SUN May 1, 2005 Issue 
The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware Penguin books, 1997  
Why Orthodox Christians Celebrate Easter Today As a child I lived in fear of what my parents called, the "Atheist Police," the communist anti-faith watchdog. Stalin had initiated a deadly and systematic persecution of religion that forced everyone to hide any feelings about faith. Now, 40 years later in the U.S., I live in fear of the Faith Police, the self-proclaimed keepers of faith, in particular of Christianity. Today, it is not only politically incorrect to criticize the encroachment of religion on secular life; it is downright dangerous to do so. Religious factions clamor to dictate their interpretation of morality upon others. From public displays of Christian religious symbols to prayers at public meetings and interference in personal lives, the Faith Police is out there to assure the supremacy of its own Faith. Yet, the majority of the people who cite the Bible as their source for moral dictatorship don't know the history of the Bible or of Christianity. Or that Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter today. Or the reason for that. Or the fact that the history of Orthodox Christianity is synonymous with the history of the beginning of Christianity. Or the fact that the Orthodox Bible is different. To be sure, there is voluminous material on all these topics. The sad part is that the majority of people who follow some sort of religious dogma and strict rules (not only Christians but followers of the other two monotheistic religions as well) are not interested in investigating a topic and making an informed choice. "The Orthodox Church" by Timothy Ware and "The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms" are two books that shed a light on some fundamental aspects of Orthodox Christianity. "The Orthodox Church" is actually, a detailed introduction to early Christianity. Emperor Constantine legitimized Christianity in the Roman Empire after his vision of the cross with the writing "In this sign, conquer." Some scholars believe that his motivation to do this was simply a brilliant political move for unity - one empire, one emperor and one religion. The significant thing here is not Constantine's motives or inspiration but the legalization of Christianity. We can only speculate about the fate of Christianity had Constantine not legalized it. Would Christianity have survived and even triumphed in spite of the vicious persecution or would it have disappeared? Would it have become an organized religion as it is now or would it have remained a loose faith in the divinity of Jesus and belief in His teachings? To this day, the Orthodox Church is governed not by strict rules and dogma, but by Holy Tradition. It is "a family of self-governing (autocephalous) Churches, held together," the author explains, "not by a centralized organization, not by a single prelate wielding power over the whole body, but by the double bond of unity in the faith and communion in the sacraments." This gives the Orthodox Church flexibility to adapt to ever-changing conditions in life. Some Orthodox theologians consider the Catholic Church as the first Protestant Church. It is not a matter of who split from whom during the Schism of 1054, but a question of who introduced changes in the cannons of the early Christian Church. "The Orthodox Study Bible" clarifies the differences between the Orthodox and Protestant Bibles. This difference is primarily in the Old Testament. Some two centuries before Christ, seventy Alexandrian scholars worked on translating the Old Testament Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek. This translation, called the Septuagint, became the official Old Testament of the Orthodox Bible. Why? "Because," the writers of "The Orthodox Study Bible" explain, "the prophecies that are made regarding the coming of the Savior, the Messiah, are far more literal, far more precise, far more intense." Thus, the Orthodox Old Testament contains books not found in the Protestant Bible - the Books of Maccabees, the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, additional chapters of the Book of Esther and the Prophecy of Daniel and some others. So why do Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on a different day? Because the formula used by the Orthodox Church for setting the date for Easter is more complex and takes into account some historical facts. In addition to having Easter follow the first full moon of the spring equinox, the Orthodox Church selects as Easter Sunday the Sunday after Passover, the intent being to make today's Holy Week closer to the historical one. Orthodox Christians do not have Easter bunnies and do not deck themselves in new Easter clothes and hats. The emphasis is, as it has always been, on celebrating the Resurrection. Easter has always been the most significant Orthodox holiday, much more so than Christmas, for without it, there would be no Christmas or Christian Faith Police. Ophelia Georgiev Roop Library Director San Bernardino Public Library |
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