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Mar 8, '07, 7:08 pm
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Regular Member
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Join Date: October 4, 2006
Posts: 1,695
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Date of Orthodox Easter
On a different thread in the Eastern Christianity forum, I asked a question trying to figure out how the Orthodox calculate their Easter date; But I didn't find a succesful answer.  So, I'm asking the question here in the Apologetics forum...
Catholics celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring...
* Spring is defined at starting on March 21st
* Full moon is predicted using a formula, albeit slightly inaccurate
(The first full moon of Spring is an attempt to correlate Easter with the Jewish Passover, which was when Jesus was crucified.)
Now, why is it that the Orthodox are so different? Sometimes their Easter falls on the same days as ours, othertimes it is 5 weeks later.
I would really appreciate it if someone could provide me with a link, or an explanation, that defines exactly how the Orthodox calculate the Easter date.
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Mar 8, '07, 8:22 pm
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Join Date: January 5, 2005
Posts: 2,042
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Hi Charlie,
The Eastern Church has chosen to celebrate Easter on the Sunday following Jewish Passover. Because the Jews follow a lunar (moon) calendar and we follow a solar (sun) calendar, the two celebrations don't always coincide.
Verbum
__________________
In principio erat Verbum
Last edited by Verbum; Mar 8, '07 at 8:32 pm.
Reason: sp
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Mar 8, '07, 9:09 pm
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Join Date: May 17, 2004
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Do they not also use the Julian Calendar for dates?
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Mar 8, '07, 10:16 pm
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Join Date: September 9, 2006
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Verbum
Hi Charlie,
The Eastern Church has chosen to celebrate Easter on the Sunday following Jewish Passover. Because the Jews follow a lunar (moon) calendar and we follow a solar (sun) calendar, the two celebrations don't always coincide.
Verbum
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My Greek Orthodox friend said that Eastern and Western Easter is the same date every four years.
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Mar 9, '07, 1:03 pm
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Join Date: January 12, 2006
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by lak611
My Greek Orthodox friend said that Eastern and Western Easter is the same date every four years.
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Yes it's true that the dates fall on the same date time to time.
However I don't believe that is it always every 4 years.
For example THIS year (2007) both East and West will celebrate Easter on Apirl 8th.
The next time this will happen will be 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2017 The following link list dates from now (2007) to 2023.
http://gogreece.about.com/cs/greekor...asterdates.htm
The above link list 6 more years after 2017 and within those 6 years there is no dates that are the same.
The following link http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/eastcalc.htm list Easter dates from 1990-2050
After 2017 the next time East and West will celebrate Easter the same day is in the year 2025. That is a gap of 8 years.
The reasoning the second link give is lame. I believe there more to it. However it does show the dates.
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Mar 9, '07, 1:15 pm
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Join Date: September 9, 2006
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mommyof02green
Yes it's true that the dates fall on the same date time to time.
However I don't believe that is it always every 4 years.
For example THIS year (2007) both East and West will celebrate Easter on Apirl 8th.
The next time this will happen will be 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2017 The following link list dates from now (2007) to 2023.
http://gogreece.about.com/cs/greekor...asterdates.htm
The above link list 6 more years after 2017 and within those 6 years there is no dates that are the same.
The following link http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/eastcalc.htm list Easter dates from 1990-2050
After 2017 the next time East and West will celebrate Easter the same day is in the year 2025. That is a gap of 8 years.
The reasoning the second link give is lame. I believe there more to it. However it does show the dates. |
That is interesting. I still do not understand why nobody was able to explain it well on the Eastern Christianity forum where the OP originally posted the question. 
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Mar 9, '07, 1:19 pm
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Join Date: January 5, 2005
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Hi St Julie,
Some use the Julian and others use the Gregorian calendar throughout the year, but use the Julian calendar to reckon the date of Easter.
My above posts reflects what I have been told by some Greeks. But after reading up on the question I am no longer sure.
There almost was an agreement from all Christians to use the same way of reckoning for Easter, but it was killed by the Russians, who have had a schism on this question.
Verbum
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In principio erat Verbum
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Mar 9, '07, 1:39 pm
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Join Date: August 21, 2005
Posts: 2,694
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Disobedience and division does not come from God.
Having a division for a reason such as this is a scandal. It has gone on too long. It is more than time the CC & EO Churches became united once more.
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Mar 9, '07, 2:03 pm
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Join Date: January 3, 2006
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by lak611
That is interesting. I still do not understand why nobody was able to explain it well on the Eastern Christianity forum where the OP originally posted the question. |
Maybe none of them know? Heck, I did know and understand how we determine Easter even though I was told by the Pastor. There some discrepancies in dates based on what he said so I did some searching and found this:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.html
Who would have thought that the United States Navy would be able to give a concise and exact explanation on how Easter is calculated?
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Mar 9, '07, 2:25 pm
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Forum Elder
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Join Date: September 9, 2006
Posts: 17,744
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeyWarren
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Maybe the Navy understands astronomy so well since the sailors relied on the sun, moon and stars to navigate before modern technology was developed?
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Mar 9, '07, 2:36 pm
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Banned
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Join Date: January 3, 2006
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by lak611
Maybe the Navy understands astronomy so well since the sailors relied on the sun, moon and stars to navigate before modern technology was developed?
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ah yes relying on the God's in the air to guide them.... 
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Mar 9, '07, 6:01 pm
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Banned
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Join Date: June 5, 2004
Posts: 11,826
Religion: Olde fashioned Christian
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eileen T
Disobedience and division does not come from God.
Having a division for a reason such as this is a scandal. It has gone on too long. It is more than time the CC & EO Churches became united once more.
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Do you have any idea about the implications of what you are saying?
There are Catholic churches already following the Orthodox dating of Easter! Would you like the rest to follow their example?
Michael
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Mar 9, '07, 6:41 pm
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Join Date: July 20, 2004
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Religion: Orthodox
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Verbum
There almost was an agreement from all Christians to use the same way of reckoning for Easter, but it was killed by the Russians, who have had a schism on this question.
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Umm, No. No Russian schism about Easter.
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Mar 9, '07, 6:43 pm
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Join Date: July 20, 2004
Posts: 18,987
Religion: Orthodox
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeyWarren
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Doesn't NASA employ the Julian Calendar for any astronomical work?
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Mar 9, '07, 6:48 pm
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Join Date: July 20, 2004
Posts: 18,987
Religion: Orthodox
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Re: Date of Orthodox Easter
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