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OT: Date of Easter // was Opinions on English

From:Adrian Morgan <morg0072@...>
Date:Monday, September 18, 2000, 1:31
Nik wrote:

> Yeah, irregularities give languages character, I think. :-) Of course, > I also like the lunisolar basis of Easter. A fixed date would be so > dull.
Earlier this year I read J L Heilbron's "The Sun In The Church", which is all about the astronomy undertaken by the Catholic Church in order to set the date of Easter correctly. I'm neutral about whether the lunisolar basis of Easter is desirable aesthetically/philosophically, but in the history surrounding it there are definately both good and bad aspects. Good: that various advances in astronomy came out of it, and that it lead to cathedrals being used as observatories which is a wonderful symbol of the connection between worship of God and admiration of creation. Bad: that for many, many centuries the celebration of Easter on the correct date became a dogma. For example Archbishop Theodor of Tarsus excommunicated the Scots and Britons for celebrating Easter on the wrong day. When you remember that the Bible says "Don't let anyone bother you over ... what holy days you observe" (Colossians 2:16), the tragedy of this attitude becomes apparent. -- web. | Here and there I like to preserve a few islands of sanity netyp.com/ | within the vast sea of absurdity which is my mind. member/ | After all, you can't survive as an eight foot tall dragon | flesh eating dragon if you've got no concept of reality.