The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-04-21

4 =
manv passages OF scri pture could be
quoted. Perhaps John 13:l. Matthew
| 2f::22, Matthew 20:lS. Mark l0:333, Luke
1881 and John 12:23 will suffice 10 show
that, though the Roman soldiers did
the actual killing, it was the sinleSs VIC
tim himself who fixed the time and an
alogv to the Passover With ST. Paul.
in |. Corinthians SIS, we rejoice in the
similarity of circumstances aud date and
say LET US keep the Feast: for even
Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for
us. 1t passage ever dear to all lovers OF
Easter, and one Of our strongest ar@u-
ments in favor Of the festiva! being
what Mr.. Blanchard denys it to be- OF
Apostolic times. The old Jewish Pass
over was undoubtedly observed, even
after Christ's death, by orthordoN Jews,
and so continued unit! the destruction
of Jerusalem, but to the christian Jew
Christ Is now the Passover. Even St.
Paul, long after his conversion to
christianity and break with Judaism,
earnestly desired to SO arrange his mis-
sionary journeys so that he might. if
possible, arrive at at.lerGsalen IN time ito
keep tie feast" Whether this feast
were Pentecost or the Passover IS i'm
material. In either case. there are three
references in the Acts (our sole author
ity for what constitutes apostolic Gus
TOM that although St. Paul zealously
opposed the ultro-Judaistic observance
of days" to which Mr.. Blanchard re
fers. he no less zealouslv advocates the
''keeping of the FEAST or in modern
Eoglish, the observance of Easter.
The unvaryin@ testimony to Easter IL
the history Of the christian church IN
sub-apostolic days seems, also to be at
variance with Mr.. Blanchard's state
ment that there is nc trace OF the cele-
bration of Easter as :; christian festival
in the New Testament or in the writ
ings of the Apostolic fathers" 1gna-
thus. Bishop of Antioch, in the 70, A. D.,
may truly be called the lipeal descend
ant OF the apostles, for he was educated
by St. John ''the discipline whom Jesus
loved and was intimate with other dis
ciples Ignatius mentions the fact Of
fasting on the eve OF the Resurrection
Festival He was one Of the many in
those early days to lay down their lives
in martyrdom for the Master, being
thrown as prey to the wild beasts in
the amphitheatre by order Of the En-
peror, Traian, in l0I, a. D. On his way
to Rome to be martyred, he met at
Smyrna, the sanity bishop OF that place,
Polycary, who like himself bad been q
disciple of the Apostle St. John, and
who also, like Ignatius. subsequently
was martyred at the heavy age of S6,
because he refused to deny his Lord and
Saviour.
We need pursue the history of the
church no further than the time OF
Polycarp to disprove Mr.. Blanchard's
contention that Easter was unknown to
the apostolic fathers, for Polycarp it
was who undertook a journey to Rome
to discuss with Bishop Anicetus who
held the see from l53-162, y. D.. the
disputed question of the actual day of
the week for The observance of Easter.
The very facg that such a division OF
opinion respecting the precise day nee
essitated a conference in l60, a. D.. is
the surest proof from ecclesiastical his
tory that so far from Easter being un-
known to the Apostolic fathers, was OF
universal observance. The fact that the
Smyrna delegate was a contemporary
OF St. John the Divine, surely adds I'M
mense weight to his evidence, for we
cannot think that the original apostles
did not know what was in accordance
with the Savior's wishes. 1renacus,
Bishop of Lyons, who was born in l2O,
\. D., Ia disciple of Polycarp) also af-
fords proof from history that Easter was
then fully established christian festi-
val for he lin addition to Ignatius who
knew ST. John so Intimately mentions
the solemn fast (our Lent which pre-
ceded the Resurrection Feast Of Easter.
I fear I have already trespassed too
far on your space, Mr.. Editor, though
other and equally conclusive proofs
might be adduced: some of which pos
sibly have been by other writers this
week. One word. however, must be add
ed as some Justification for the veNations.
disputes (which Mr.. Blanchard in COM
mon with US all deplore as to the eN-
act date OF Easter.
We all like to observe anniversary
days in our own families. birthdays,
silver weddings, golden weddings and
all bear witness to this natural instinct.
w =, III Oul Wv IL IlfCS5 OcSCI' otiS oStIN;
irrespective of the day OF the week. For
instance, the anniversary on a Tuesday
this year will be on Wednesday next
wear and so on. So it was with the early
christians as regards Easter.
They knew I'VE know the exact date
of the month, 18th of Nisan. Some,
therefore quite reasonably, wished to
observe it on the actual date, whatever
day of the week it fell upon. Others
(the triumphal party in the contest)
wished to emphasize the first day OF
the week" Ion Sunday as the Resur-
rection, and to always hold Easter on a
Sunday. Disputes in religious matters
are always deploraole, and scarcely ever
promote holiness: but if ever the losing
side had strong case, it was in the
Paschal controversies. The very frct,
however, of these disputes, supports he
historical Justification OF Easter as