Christians are the only major religious people to have a symbol of death represent them. Comments on the holiday? What it means to you and/or what you think it means to others? Questions you have?
Having grown up in the Northern hemisphere, I've always associated Easter with new life, but I was reminded by someone over the weekend that it is fall in the southern hemisphere. What do you think about that?
Having grown up in the Northern hemisphere, I've always associated Easter with new life, but I was reminded by someone over the weekend that it is fall in the southern hemisphere. What do you think about that?
The celebration of Easter is not only a symbol of death, but more importantly the resurrection. Easter is the day which Jesus rose from the dead, and Good Friday is the day Jesus died on the cross. Today the holiday has lost much of its meaning. It is degrading to Catholics when people "Celebrate" Easter with their families, but don't even go to church on the most important holiday in the Catholic calendar. It is easily over shadowed by Christmas, which today is celebrated to get presents, not the true meaning of the birth of Jesus. What Easter means to most people is, the end to the tough lent season where we have to give up something and cannot eat meat, and finally its over. To me it's about being grateful for being blessed with life. We need to think about how we celebrate Easter as it comes upon us this year.
ReplyDeleteI believe the holiday of Easter makes a good model for society in relation to death. Holy week is very important in the Christian faith, especially Good Friday which marks the death of Jesus. But with the mourning for the death of Jesus Christians move to more of a celebration on Easter Sunday when Jesus is resurrected. I believe this can show people that death does not always have to be feared because, as Christians believe, when we die we are 'resurrected' in a sense when we enter heaven and have eternal life. I believe this is a good model to have and a comforting view of death. Easter being in the fall for Christians in other countries is something I have never thought of. We all think of Spring as new life and Easter goes along with this while Fall is more of a season of death. With Easter being in the fall for these people it could possibly act as a reminder that just as Jesus was resurrected their environment will also see new life in the coming Spring. A question I would have in reference to these people of the southern hemisphere and Easter is how they celebrate it in the fall and how the environment affects these celebrations.
ReplyDeleteEaster is a celebration of death and life. I have been going to a catholic school my whole life and I have been taught what the bible preaches but I don't believe everything that is in the bible. I have my own thoughts and believes of what happened and I think that Easter is a time to remember how great Jesus Christ was and how much of a sacrifice he gave for us. He gave his own life so that we could be freed from all sin. Easter is also a celebration of life because he rose from the dead and showed that he is almighty. Nature also shows us that Easter is a time of birth and new life with the flowers blooming and everything that comes alive during this time of year.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. I had a similar up bringing and i feel the same about having my own beliefs about the Bible and also that Easter is a time to remember and celebrate the life of Jesus.
DeleteOn the topic of Christianity using actively a symbol of death, it is also worth mentioning that different Christian branches have varied on what aspect of the Christ-life they have chosen to emphasize. The two largest branches, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox, have differed in the former emphasizing the suffering on the Cross, while the latter focuses on the redemption of the Resurrection moreso, in regards to their theological studies.
ReplyDeleteEaster's always been simply a family holiday for me. No particular weight has ever been associated with it in my life particularly, though I always enjoyed the happy nature of church songs that began starting on Easter.
I do wonder how Easter is interpreted in the southern hemisphere considering the point you've made. Perhaps our modern associations with it are a good indicator of how the holiday has primarily existed and developed its cultural connotations in the northern hemisphere as opposed to the southern.
To me easter is the celebration of new life. It makes us remember the sacrifices that Jesus did for us and because of this sacrifice we are saved. It is a time for us to reflect on this special sacrifice. Along with this reflection I feel that it is celebration new life and is used as a symbol of new life. From going to catholic schools all of my life I have formed these opinions and just became part of my life. I always knew that people did not celebrate easter, but it can to be a surprise to me when I met people that did not even know what easter was. Being from a strictly catholic back round it was different for me to comprehend this.
ReplyDeleteTo me Easter is a celebration of life but the week before that is showing death and good Friday was the day Jesus died for us. For me being Catholic this week of Easter has meant a lot. it is not only a time for my family to get together and see each other but a time for us to remember Jesus' life and what he did for us. This Easter i got to be a sponsor for my fiance who became Catholic on Easter Vigil and it was an amazing experience. Never did i realize not only how important and wonderful this holiday was but how important my faith is every week. With Easter being the fall for some, it may be seen as a remembrance of what Jesus has done for us and how he died on the cross for us.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy for anyone from North America to associate Easter with Spring. Bunnies, eggs, and baby ducks, anyone? So it's not so far outside the realm of reasoning to associate Easter with life and/or renewal. However, for me personally, I always associated Easter with the idea of sacrifice and how meaningful that act can be. The concept of sacrifice tends to lose the depth of its meaning because we overuse the word in the same way that we overstate how hungry we are. We're not actually starving. And not buying a pair of pretty pumps isn't really a sacrifice. If the story is to be taken at its word, then Christ gave up life on Earth to clear the ledgers for our sins - past, present, and future. He endured true suffering, despite being the Son of God and capable of performing miracles. Someone who led the perfect, sinless life gave up that life and allowed himself to be "touched" by the realities of this world. And for what? To save us? That's the true meaning of a sacrifice to me.
ReplyDeleteEaster has always been about the death and it's meaningful sacrifice to me. The thought of conquering death but not just a quick "ideal" death but rather one filled with suffering and sorrow is one of the main reasons Christians follow the faith. It came full circle and we do see that through the suffering, there is light and there is new life. It is just a bonus that us here in the northern hemisphere experience Easter in the spring so we get a physical showing of new life but I wonder how someone born and raised with Easter in the southern hemisphere views the holiday?
ReplyDeleteIn recent years, I have been trying to pay more attention to the holidays of the church. In particular, trying to look past the stereotypes associated with them. Easter is about more than giving up chocolate for several weeks and saying a few extra prayers. It's a time for Christians to reflect on the sacrifice Jesus made of his own perfect life for us sinners. I admit, this is not easy to do, and like many I find it difficult to set time aside for this. What I've come to realize, however, is that it does not always take extra time to appreciate the blessings I've been given. Just being together with my family enjoying an Easter meal is cause for me to be thankful for the life I've been given. While it would be strange to me at first celebrating Easter in the fall, Easter is not only about new life. It is from death that Jesus rose again, so it is still fitting to the holiday. On that note, what if Christmas was in the summer? I know that Christmas is not necessarily tied to the season the same way Easter is to spring, but would people's attitude toward it change?
ReplyDeleteLooking back on the holiday now I think many christians focus their attention on the easter celebration and the rising of Jesus from the dead rather the whole weekend beginning on Good Friday and continuing through Easter Sunday. I believe that this stems from the fact that most human beings will avoid anything that makes them uncomfortable, and as we have seen in this class especially, death is one of the most uncomfortable things to talk about in every day life. Growing up in a catholic family my parents made it clear to me why we celebrated Jesus' death as well as his resurrection, and i feel as though the significance of His death is overlooked by many christians who celebrate the easter holiday. The importance of Jesus' death as well as his suffering through the passion remains the sole defining aspect that separates christianity from other religions because, although we believe that God cannot be defined by the limitations of man and has the power and authority to take away sins, if we had not seen the suffering and that those sins brought upon Jesus there would be no reason for us to feel remorse for our failings and shortcomings. So the using the symbol of the cross to represent Christianity continuously speaks to the importance that christians should place on suffering and death, and not always the resurrection and new life that may or may not come afterward.
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