christian holidays

8/8/2019 Christian Holidays

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Reading Skill | Text Comprehension

Christian Holy Days, Holidays, andSeasons

By Richard Wagner

Easter

When: First Sunday after the first full moon after March 21Observance: Resurrection of Jesus ChristBiblical reference: Luke 24

Easter is the single most important holy day of the Christian Church, for itcelebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the central event in Christianity.

To Christians, the resurrection backs up Jesus' claim that he had theauthority to die for the sins of the world and the power to come back to lifeagain. It also gives hope to Christians that they too will experience aresurrected life in heaven.

The exact day of the year that Easter falls on is very confusing, and the logicseems pretty old-fashioned in this digital age, because it's based on thelunar calendar and tied to the start of the solar spring. But the WesternChurch (Catholic and Protestant) continues to observe it based on the rulesof long ago that it falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon afterMarch 21. It can't come before March 22 or after April 25. In contrast,Orthodox Churches wanted to tie Easter to Jewish Passover, given the

relationship between Passover and the day of Christ's resurrection. Becausethe Jewish calendar determines the date that Jews celebrate Passover,Easter for the Orthodox Churches can vary by as much as five weeks fromthe Western Church.

PentecostWhen: 40 days after EasterObservance: Coming of the Holy SpiritBiblical reference: Acts 2

Originally, Pentecost was a Jewish holiday held 50 days after Passover. Oneof three major feasts during the Jewish year, it celebrated Thanksgiving forharvested crops. However, Pentecost for Christians means something fardifferent. Before Jesus was crucified, he told his disciples that the Holy Spiritwould come after him (see John 14:16). And 40 days after Jesus wasresurrected (ten days after he ascended into heaven; see Luke 24:51), thatpromise was fulfilled when Peter and the early Church were in Jerusalem forPentecost.

Although many North American Christians hardly notice Pentecost today,

traditional European churches consider it a major feast day. Pentecost,is justbehind Easter in overall importance. For example, in Germany today on onlythree occasions does the observance of a national holiday span two days:
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Reading Skill | Text ComprehensionChristmas (December 25 and 26), Easter (Sunday and Monday), andPentecost (Sunday and Monday).

Christmas

When: December 25Observance: Birth of Jesus ChristBiblical reference: Luke 2:120

Christmas is the observance of Jesus' humble birth to a virgin in a stable inBethlehem. The holiday also celebrates the events surrounding his birth,

such as an angel's appearance to shepherds, telling them to visit thenewborn king.

Although the Church doesn't consider it the most important Christianholiday, Christmas is certainly the most popular, at least in terms of culturaland social significance. But the early Church, believing that events later in

Jesus' life should be the focus, didn't even consider it all that significant.What's more, when Church leaders first discussed observing the birthday of

Jesus, some argued against celebrating it like you would another greatperson in history. Nonetheless, the Church had enough pro-observance

support to mark the calendar.Neither the New Testament nor any historical record marks the exact dateof Jesus' birth. As a result, the Church initially considered many differentdates, including January 2, March 21, March 25, April 18, April 19, May 20,May 28, November 17, and November 20. The Western Church firstobserved December 25 in the fourth century, and eventually EasternChurches followed suit.

Some people criticize that Christmas has its origins as a pagan holiday.Some truth lies in that notion, considering that the timing of December 25was selected to line up with several pagan Roman holidays that celebratedthe winter solstice and worship of the sun. However, Church leaders didn'tsee matching the date as compromising Christian teaching with the culture.Responding to any criticism, a fourth-century bishop remarked, "We holdthis day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, butbecause of him who made it."

Most of the traditional customs of Christmas, such as gift giving, treedecorating, light hanging, and feasting, come from sources other than theChurch.


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Reading Skill | Text Comprehension

Reading Comprehension exercises. Please answer the followingquestions.

1) What is the most important holy day/ holiday for Christians? What

does it celebrate?

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2) In what calendar is the Church based on for this holy day? When is

this holy day?

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3) Pentecost was originally a Jewish holy day that celebrated what?

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4) What is the Pentecost for Christians?

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5) Describe (according to the information given) the birth of Christ.


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Reading Skill | Text Comprehension ______________________________________________________________________

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6) Where is registered the birth date of Jesus?

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7) Many critics came towards the church for picking a date which lines

up with a pagan holiday. What was the argument one of the church

bishops of the time gave?

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christian holidays

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