Quartodecimanism

Quartodecimanism (Latin for "fourteenism") was the practice of fixing the celebration of Passover for Christians on the 14th day of Nisan in the Bible's Hebrew Calendar which, according to the Gospel Of John , was the date Jesus was Crucified in Jerusalem . This was the original method of fixing the date of the Passover. A controversy arose concerning whether it should also be a Resurrection holiday, and whether it should instead be celebrated on Sunday, which is now the holiday that is called Easter .

Since the Bible's calendar is Lunisolar and the Roman/Western calendar is only Solar , it is difficult to calculate Nisan 14 in the western calendar without knowledge of how a lunisolar calendar system works. For various reasons, the Church eventually chose to use a different method than the Jews had used for their Passover .

Quartodecimanism was popular among Christians in Asia Minor and it is generally believed that this was the method specifically preferred by the followers of John The Apostle , since it was advocated by Polycarp who was a Disciple of either John the Apostle or John The Presbyter , assuming they are not the same person.

In the 2nd Century AD a dispute arose over the churches of the East in Asia Minor and the Church of Rome. The eastern churches celebrated their Passover on the 14th of Nisan regardless of the day of the week on which it fell, while the Church of Rome celebrated Easter on the first day of the week. Based on the writings of Irenaeus, it apparently was the Roman Bishop Sixtus I , 115-125 A.D. who was the first to celebrate Passover on a Sunday.

This difference resulted in the Apostolic Father Polycarp visiting Rome to settle the matter with Anicetus . In addition Polycrates Of Ephesus and Irenaeus wrote in support of the Quartodecimans. Irenaeus also noted that "Anicetus conceded to Polycarp in the Church the celebration of the Eucharist, by way of showing him respect". However Anicetus' successor Victor I , the first Latin Bishop of Rome, excommunicated the Quartodecimans (then apparently led by Polycrates Of Ephesus ) for not adhering to the modified Paschal practices of Rome thereby causing a schism between the Church of Rome and those churches that observed the Quartodeciman. Despite this schism, the Quartodecimans Melito Of Sardis and Polycarp, for example, are both recognized as Saints by both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Another recognized Catholic saint, Apollinaris, wrote, "There are, then, some who through ignorance raise disputes about these things (though their conduct is pardonable: for ignorance is no subject for blame -- it rather needs further instruction...)...The fourteenth day, the true Passover of the Lord; the great sacrifice, the Son of God instead of the lamb, who was bound, who bound the strong, and who was judged, though Judge of living and dead, and who was delivered into the hands of sinners to be crucified, who was lifted up on the horns of the unicorn, and who was pierced in His holy side, who poured forth from His side the two purifying elements, water and blood, word and spirit, and who was buried on the day of the passover, the stone being placed upon the tomb" ( Apollinaris Claudius , From the Book Concerning Passover, Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson , Excerpted from Volume I of The Ante-Nicene Fathers ).

In 325 's ''Ecclesiastical History'' 1.9 records The Epistle of the Emperor Constantine, concerning the matters transacted at the Council, addressed to those Bishops who were not present : "It was, in the first place, declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because, their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded. ... Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries. ... avoiding all contact with that evil way. ... who, after having compassed the death of the Lord, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them. ... a people so utterly depraved. ... Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the murderers of our Lord. ... no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews."

, as we learn from the recently discovered Paschal Epistles of Athanasius, took the Easter question again in hand, and brought about, by mutual concessions, a compromise for the ensuing fifty years, but without permanent result. In 387 the difference of the Egyptian and the Roman Easter amounted to fully five weeks. Later attempts also to adjust the matter were in vain, until the monk Dionysius Exiguus , the author of our Christian calendar, succeeded in harmonizing the computation of Easter on the basis of the true Alexandrian reckoning; except that the Gallican and British Christians adhered still longer to the old custom, and thus fell into conflict with the Anglo-Saxon. The introduction of the improved Gregorian Calendar in the Western church in 1582 again produced discrepancy; the Eastern and Russian church adhered to the Julian Calendar , and is consequently now about twelve days behind us. According to the Gregorian calendar, which does not divide the months with astronomical exactness, it sometimes happens that the Paschal full moon is put a couple of hours too early, and the Christian Easter, as was the case in 1825, coincides with the Jewish Passover, against the express order of the council of Nicaea."

The vast majority of Christians abide by this decision and observe Easter on a Sunday, although the method for calculating which Sunday varies. See also Computus .

Currently some smaller groups (some Sabbatarian Church Of God groups, for example) have a Quartodeciman observance, and celebrate a Christian Passover on that day—they typically use unleavened bread and wine, but do not have a Passover Seder like the Jews do. (This Passover is not to be confused with the current Greek Orthodox "Pascha", which celebrates the resurrection of Christ.) The largest known Quartodeciman group, that specifically claims to trace its history through John, Polycarp, and Polycrates, is the Living Church Of God (see its booklet, ''God's Church Through the Ages''). Many critics, however, believe that the historical evidence cited is not firm enough to prove that claim of continuance. Jehovah's Witnesses celebrate the " Memorial Of Christ's Death " or the "Lord's Evening Meal" on this day as well.

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