Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!uwvax!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ejh@sei.cmu.edu Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: sunday vs. saturday -- the reckoning of days Message-ID: Date: 13 Nov 89 16:55:29 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 23 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article mls@dasys1.UUCP (Michael Siemon) writes: [concerning the basis in judaism of the beginning of the 'day' occurring at dusk of the previous 'day', with which i agree] >If I can be polemical for just a moment, this indebtedness of >the basic Church calendar to its Jewish origins is sufficient >rebuttal to charges that our feasts are "pagan." uh, i don't think so: you're talking about apples and oranges. all you did was show that there is a basis in judaism for celebrating the sabbath the night before. as i recall, the major holidays were chosen to closely coincide with the festivals of the pagans the church was trying to convert to christianity. thus, the winter solstice became christmas, samhain (sp?, right holiday?) became all hallow's eve (which, as you would be quick to point out, would be the beginning of all saint's day), and the vernal equinox became easter. why do you think easter is still based on the full moon? by definition, easter is 'the first sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox'. erik