Life…

Around 325 A.D. (or C.E.) Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea which brought together 1800 Bishops from all over Christendom to hammer out some differences in doctrine between the myriad Christian groups at that time.  One of the results of such deliberation included the date of the holiday we celebrate today (both Eastern and Western branches), although those of us in the Western church follow according to the Gregorian calendar while our brethren in the Eastern Church follow the Julian calendar.  This year and next year we are fortunate to share the same date, as I told my father on the phone; “the theological planets aligned this year.” 

Another topic of discussion at the First Council of Nicaea was Jesus’ relation to God the Almighty.  Was Jesus the Son of God, as we are all children of God?  Was Jesus one with God, the manifestation of the Word in our material world?  The Gnostics went with the former while the rest of Christendom continued with the latter (I say continued because some people have been sadly persuaded by subpar research and popular culture novels like Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code that it was at this time that Jesus’ divinity was established, which is false as many sects of Christian faith believed in the divinity of Christ).  Christian doctrine was solidified, and the standard bearer for Christian belief remains to be the Nicene Creed in which it is declared:

…We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made….

History progressed and Christians went forth and multiplied, spreading the word of revealed religion to many corners of the world.  In the northern expanses of Europe, however, they ran into difficulties trying to get many of the Europeans (Germanic and Nordic mainly) to relinquish their “old superstitions” which consisted of numerous pagan beliefs.  Instead of forcing people to convert through force (although I am nearly certain violence broke out from time to time), Bishops and Priests tried to win over the local populations by synthesizing Christian celebrations and feasts with pagan ones.  Easter was a celebration of life of life for pagans; it was a time when the death of winter was overcome by the warmth of spring.  Previously dead plants sprang to life, barren lands sprang to life with vibrant colors, the world seemed to have been resurrected.  It is very apropos that Europeans celebrate life through Jesus, right?  Now pagans could continue to celebrate life through nature while taking into consideration life above nature.  Pagan belief inherently binds people to nature, while Judeo-Christian (including Muslim) belief transcends nature and looks to the “Creator of Heaven and Earth,” of the material and immaterial.  Surely that trumped the pagans’ hand.

In the end, the Easter celebration is about life.  We are given it, we take it for granted, it does not last forever, and we are not guaranteed a good one in this world.  Nevertheless, it happens and it kills us (at least it used to) not knowing why or for what purpose.  Here we are in this material world, and according to Christian belief our God came into this world as man only to die and return to His throne.  The reason for His sacrifice is our salvation, so that we may leave eternally.  We are guaranteed through this sacrifice life in this world and the next.  An amazing concept, and there is no greater demonstration of love than the sacrifice Jesus gave to save humankind.  Furthermore, Christ defeated death.  He died so that we may live; he rose on the third day and ascended into heaven.  Today billions of people around the world celebrate the everlasting life that was given to them through love and sacrifice; and those who do not are still celebrating their life by living it anyway.  Whether we are of nature or we transcend nature, we still live this life and should be thankful to that.  Happy Easter!

-rj