Penton's book can be viewed on the Google Book Search.
The memorial service once a year or once a week? Which is apostolic?
by greendawn 36 Replies latest jw friends
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stev
Here is the footnote to the above reference to Storrs and Nisan 14:
"The custom of celebrating the Lord's Supper on 14 Nisan began among members of the Life and Advent Union in the 1860s. Storrs continued the practice until his death. See, for example, Bible Examiner, February 1877, 131. "
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stev
The Adventist group Church of God (7th Day) also observes the Lord's Supper annually. They worship on Saturday, the Sabbath. "Hope" is the name of their magazine", and the "Passover" is the Lord's Supper. Note that many adopted it in 1881, after Storrs had adopted the practice. Did Storrs learn it from earlier from Sabbatarian Adventists, who followed Jewish practices? Herbert Armstrong, who came from the Church of God (7th Day) and the Worldwide Church of God, and some of their offshoots, also observed the Lord's Supper annually. So this practice is found in several Adventist groups. Where did it come from?
http://www.giveshare.org/churchhistory/historysdcog/history9.html
"The April 12, 1881, Hope set forth reasons for observing the ordinance annually at the time of the Passover. Pro and con articles followed, but Passover reports in the spring of 1881 showed that many brethren had accepted it."
"The April 26, 1881 issue states that the Passover was kept on the evening after the 13th of Nisan, with footwashing, at Brother Samuel Barackman's in Nebraska. Also, R.E. Caviness of Beckwith, Iowa reported observing it, and Brother S.S. Davison spoke in favor of an annual Passover. The May 24, 1881 issue contained a long article by A.F. Dugger explaining reasons for annual Passover observance.""the observance of an annual Lord's Supper, certainly a primary Church of God (Seventh Day) doctrine."
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stev
The article below by the WCG explains that Armstrong held that the Lord's Supper should only be observed once a year. The WCG now gives the freedom to celebrate it more often.
http://www.wcg.org/lit/church/lordssup/howoften.htm How Often Should We Partake of the Lord's Supper?
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greendawn
Stev thanks for the references regarding that early history of the JWs I could faintly remember Storr as the originator of the yearly memorial practice but I wasn't sure. Anyway it goes to show the JWs adventist roots that they deny so much. Here they are infact defending Storr's idea as they defend Barfour's 1914 idea.
Mary you don't seem to correctly perceive what is the apostolic age, that is the period when Christ's apostles lived, ie up to the end of the 1st century when John (of Zebedee) died. The next period covering the immediate successors of the apostles is the sub apostolic age and lasted up to about 160AD
Narkissos mentions 1 Cor 11:25 where Christ is described as saying "do this WHENEVER you drink in my memory" that whenever makes it obvious that he set no time limits as to when it would be performed. In acts 2:46 we see that the earliest Christians used to break the bread each day in their homes in Jerusalem.
As for the book "the teachings of the 12 apostles" it is like a handbook for new Christian converts and was written in apostolic times. Surprisingly this book is not canonical though its contents and spirit are fully in agreement with the rest of the Bible. http://reluctant-messenger.com/didache.htm -
greendawn
Stillawitness, celebrating the memorial a month later derives from the old testament where any Jews unable to celebrate on Nissan 14 could do so a month later.
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stillAwitness
Good looking out greendawn
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Narkissos
And what's up with the counsel on in case the Memorial has to be cancelled (due to inclement weather or whatnot) that we are able to celebrate it exactly one month later.
Where did they find that hogwash?
From a post-exilic OT regulation about Passover (Numbers 9:6ff; 2 Chronicles 30:2ff) -- not the Eucharist of course
Let it be added that the JW's (and other adventist sects') adherence to the Jewish lunar calendar for a supposedly Christian celebration also sounds strange in view of the mainstream (actually Pauline and post-Pauline) NT rejection of this calendar, e.g. Galatians 4:10f:
You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.
Colossians 2:16:
Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.
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greendawn
Indeed the JWs are often acting as if they do not accept that Jesus fullfilled and superseded judaism. One often gets the impression that they are harking back to judaism.
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TheListener
WT excerpts. I know it's a lot but hey for those that don't have the CD rom it's good to have this stuff:
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w03 2/15 p. 14 Why Observe the Lord’s Evening Meal? ***10
Should Jesus’ death be commemorated monthly, weekly, or even daily? No. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Evening Meal and was killed on the day of Passover, which was observed "as a memorial" of Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage in 1513 B.C.E. (Exodus 12:14) The Passover was held only once a year, on the 14th day of the Jewish month Nisan. (Exodus 12:1-6; Leviticus 23:5) This indicates that Jesus’ death should be commemorated only as often as the Passover—annually—not monthly, weekly, or daily.
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So, then, it is appropriate to observe the Memorial annually on Nisan 14. Says one reference work: "The Christians of Asia Minor were called Quartodecimans [Fourteenthers] from their custom of celebrating the pascha [Lord’s Evening Meal] invariably on the 14th of Nisan . . . The date might fall on Friday or on any of the other days of the week."—The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Volume IV, page 44.
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Commenting concerning the second century C.E. practice, historian J. L. von Mosheim says that the Quartodecimans observed the Memorial on Nisan 14 because "they considered the example of Christ as possessing the force of a law." Another historian states: "The usage of the Quartodeciman churches of Asia was continuous with that of the Jerusalem church. In the 2nd century these churches at their Pascha on the 14th of Nisan commemorated the redemption effected by the death of Christ."—Studia Patristica, Volume V, 1962, page 8.
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w94 3/15 The Lord’s Evening Meal—How Often Should It Be Observed? ***The
One CelebrationThis observance was introduced by Jesus the day he died. He had commemorated the Jewish feast of the Passover with his apostles. Then he passed some of the unleavened Passover bread to them, saying: "This means my body which is to be given in your behalf." Next, Jesus passed a cup of wine, saying: "This cup means the new covenant by virtue of my blood, which is to be poured out in your behalf." He also said: "Keep doing this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19, 20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-26) This observance is called the Lord’s Evening Meal, or the Memorial. It is the only celebration that Jesus commanded his followers to observe.
Many churches claim that they hold this observance in conjunction with all their other feasts, but most commemorate it differently from the way Jesus commanded. Perhaps the most noteworthy difference is the frequency of the celebration. Some churches celebrate it monthly, weekly, even daily. Is this what Jesus intended when he told his followers: "Keep doing this in remembrance of me"? The New English Bible says: "Do this as a memorial of me." (1 Corinthians 11:24, 25) How often is a memorial or an anniversary observed? Usually, just once a year.
Remember, too, that Jesus initiated this observance and then died on the Jewish calendar date of Nisan 14. That was the day of the Passover, a festival reminding the Jews of the great deliverance they had experienced in Egypt in the 16th century B.C.E. At that time, the sacrifice of a lamb resulted in the salvation of the Jewish firstborn, whereas Jehovah’s angel struck down all the firstborn of Egypt.—Exodus 12:21, 24-27.
How does this help our understanding? Well, the Christian apostle Paul wrote: "Christ our passover has been sacrificed." (1 Corinthians 5:7) Jesus’ death was a greater Passover sacrifice, giving mankind the opportunity for a far grander salvation. For Christians, therefore, the Memorial of Christ’s death has replaced the Jewish Passover.—John 3:16.
The Passover was an annual celebration. Logically, then, so is the Memorial. The Passover—the day Jesus died—always fell on the 14th day of the Jewish month Nisan. Hence, Christ’s death should be memorialized once a year on the calendar day that corresponds to Nisan 14. In 1994 that day is Saturday, March 26, after sundown. Why is it, though, that churches of Christendom have not made this a day for special observance? A brief look at history will answer that question.
Apostolic
Custom in DangerThere is no doubt that during the first century C.E., those guided by Jesus’ apostles celebrated the Lord’s Evening Meal exactly as he had commanded. However, during the second century, some started to change the time of its commemoration. They held the Memorial on the first day of the week (now called Sunday), not on the day corresponding to Nisan 14. Why was that done?
For the Jews, a day started at about six o’clock in the evening and ran until the same time the following day. Jesus died on Nisan 14, 33 C.E., which ran from Thursday evening to Friday evening. He was resurrected on the third day, early Sunday morning. Some wanted the commemoration of Jesus’ death to be observed on a fixed day of the week each year, instead of on the day on which Nisan 14 happened to fall. They also viewed the day of Jesus’ resurrection as more important than that of his death. Hence, they settled on Sunday.
Jesus commanded that his death be memorialized, not his resurrection. And since the Jewish Passover falls on a different day each year according to the Gregorian calendar that we now use, it is only natural that the same would be true of the Memorial. Many therefore stuck to the original arrangement and observed the Lord’s Evening Meal on Nisan 14 each year. In time they came to be called Quartodecimans, meaning "Fourteenthers."
Some scholars recognized that these "Fourteenthers" were following the original apostolic pattern. One historian said: "As regards the day for observing the Pascha [the Lord’s Evening Meal], the usage of the Quartodeciman churches of Asia was continuous with that of the Jerusalem church. In the 2nd century these churches at their Pascha on the 14th of Nisan commemorated the redemption effected by the death of Christ."—Studia Patristica, Volume V, 1962, page 8.
A
Dispute GrowsWhile many in Asia Minor followed the apostolic practice, Sunday was set aside for observance in Rome. About the year 155 C.E., Polycarp of Smyrna, a representative of the Asian congregations, visited Rome to discuss this and other problems. Unhappily, no agreement was reached on this matter.
Irenaeus of Lyons wrote in a letter: "Neither could Anicetus [of Rome] persuade Polycarp not to observe what he had always observed with John the disciple of our Lord and the other apostles with whom he consorted; nor yet did Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe it, for he said that he ought to hold to the custom of the elders before him." (Eusebius, Book 5, chapter 24) Note that Polycarp reportedly based his stand on the authority of the apostles, whereas Anicetus appealed to the custom of previous elders in Rome.
This dispute intensified toward the end of the second century C.E. About 190 C.E., a certain Victor was elected bishop of Rome. He believed that the Lord’s Evening Meal should be observed on a Sunday, and he sought the support of as many other leaders as possible. Victor pressured the Asiatic congregations to change to the Sunday arrangement.
Replying on behalf of those in Asia Minor, Polycrates of Ephesus refused to bow to this pressure. He said: "We keep the day without tampering with it, neither adding, nor subtracting." He then listed many authorities, including the apostle John. "These all," he maintained, "observed the fourteenth day for the Pascha according to the Gospel, in no way deviating therefrom." Polycrates added: "I for my part, brethren, . . . am not affrighted by threats. For those better than I have said, We must obey God rather than men."—Eusebius, Book 5, chapter 24.
Victor was displeased with this reply. One historical work says that he "excommunicated all the Asiatic Churches, and sent his circular letters to all Churches that were of his opinion, that they should hold no communion with them." However, "this rash and bold act of his was ill resented by all wise and sober men of his own party, several of whom wrote sharply to him, advising him . . . to preserve charity, unity, and peace."—Bingham’s Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book 20, chapter 5.
Apostasy
InstitutionalizedDespite such protests, the Christians in Asia Minor became increasingly isolated on the issue of when to celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal. Variations had crept in elsewhere. Some celebrated the whole period from Nisan 14 through the following Sunday. Others were holding the occasion more frequently—weekly on Sunday.
In 314 C.E. the Council of Arles (France) tried to force the Roman arrangement and suppress any alternative. The remaining Quartodecimans held out. In order to settle this and other matters that were dividing the professed Christians in his empire, in 325 C.E. the pagan emperor Constantine called an ecumenical synod, the Council of Nicaea. It issued a decree that instructed all in Asia Minor to conform to the Roman usage.
It is interesting to note one of the principal arguments advanced for abandoning the observing of the Memorial of Christ’s death according to the date on the Jewish calendar. A History of the Christian Councils, by K. J. Hefele, states: "It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of all festivals, to follow the custom (the calculation) of the Jews, who had soiled their hands with the most fearful of crimes, and whose minds were blinded." (Volume 1, page 322) To be in such a position was viewed as a "‘humiliating subjection’ to the Synagogue which irked the Church," says J. Juster, quoted in Studia Patristica, Volume IV, 1961, page 412.
Anti-Semitism! Those who celebrated the Memorial of Jesus’ death on the same day that he died were viewed as Judaizers. It was forgotten that Jesus himself was a Jew and that he had given the day its meaning by then offering his life in behalf of mankind. From then on, the Quartodecimans were censured as heretics and schismatics and were persecuted. The Council of Antioch in 341 C.E. decreed that they were to be excommunicated. Nevertheless, there were still many of them in 400 C.E., and they persisted in small numbers long thereafter.
Since those days, Christendom has failed to return to Jesus’ original arrangement. Professor William Bright admitted: "When a special day, Good Friday, came to be devoted to the commemoration of the Passion as such, it was too late to restrict to it the ‘paschal’ associations which St. Paul had connected with the sacrificial death: they had been freely applied to the Resurrection-festival itself, and a confusion of ideas established itself in the ritual language of Greek and Latin Christendom."—The Age of the Fathers, Volume 1, page 102.
What About Today?‘After all these years,’ you may ask, ‘does it really matter when the Memorial is observed?’ Yes, it does. Changes were made by strong-minded men striving for power. People followed their own ideas instead of obeying Jesus Christ. Clearly fulfilled was the apostle Paul’s warning: "I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you [Christians] and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves."—Acts 20:29, 30.
At issue is the matter of obedience. Jesus established just one celebration for Christians to observe. The Bible clearly explains when and how it should be observed. Who, then, has the right to change that? The early Quartodecimans suffered persecution and excommunication rather than compromise in this matter.
You may be interested to know that there are still Christians on earth who respect Jesus’ wishes and commemorate the Memorial of his death on the date that he established. This year, Jehovah’s Witnesses will meet together in their Kingdom Halls all around the earth after 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 26—when the 14th day of Nisan begins. They will then do exactly what Jesus said should be done at this most meaningful time. Why not observe the Lord’s Evening Meal with them? By being present, you too can show your respect for the wishes of Jesus Christ.
[Footnotes]Nisan, the first month of the Jewish year, began with the first appearance of the new moon. Nisan 14 thus always came at full moon.
*** w03 1/1 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***Questions From ReadersWhat did Paul mean when he said: "As often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup"?
Referring to the institution of the Memorial of Jesus’ death, Paul wrote: "As often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives." (1 Corinthians 11:25, 26) Some feel that the word "often" here indicates that Christ’s death should be commemorated frequently, in the sense of many times. Hence, they commemorate it more often than once a year. Is that what Paul meant?
It is now almost 2,000 years since Jesus inaugurated the Memorial of his death. Therefore, celebrating the Memorial even once a year means that it has been celebrated often since 33 C.E. However, in the context of 1 Corinthians 11:25, 26, Paul was discussing, not how often, but how the Memorial should be observed. In the original Greek, he did not use the word pol·la´kis, which means "often" or "frequently." Rather, he used the word ho·sa´kis, which means "as often as," an idiom meaning "whenever," "every time that." Paul was saying: ‘Every time that you do this, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord.’
How often, then, should the Memorial of Jesus’ death be commemorated? It is appropriate to observe it just once a year. It truly is a memorial, and memorials are usually observed annually. In addition, Jesus died on the day of the Jewish Passover, which was held once a year. Appropriately, Paul referred to Jesus as "Christ our passover," since Jesus’ sacrificial death opened the way to life for spiritual Israel, just as the first Passover sacrifice preserved alive the natural Israelites’ firstborn in Egypt and opened the way for the nation’s release from slavery. (1 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 6:16) This connection with the annual Jewish Passover is further evidence that the Memorial of Jesus’ death should be observed just once a year.
Moreover, Paul associated Jesus’ death with another annual Jewish feast, the Day of Atonement. At Hebrews 9:25, 26, we read: "Neither is it in order that [Jesus] should offer himself often, as indeed the high priest enters into the holy place from year to year [on Atonement Day] with blood not his own. . . . But now he has manifested himself once for all time at the conclusion of the systems of things to put sin away through the sacrifice of himself." Since Jesus’ sacrifice replaced the annual Atonement Day sacrifice, the Memorial of his death is properly observed annually. There is no Scriptural reason to observe the Memorial more frequently than that.
In harmony with this, historian John Laurence von Mosheim reports that the second-century Christians in Asia Minor were accustomed to observing the Memorial of Jesus’ death "on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month [Nisan]." It was only in later years that it became customary in Christendom to observe it more often than once a year.
[Footnote]Compare the account at 1 Samuel 1:3, 7. There, "as often as" (in the modern translation of the Hebrew) refers to events that happened "from year to year," or once a year, when Elkanah and his two wives went to the tabernacle at Shiloh.
*** w63 4/1 pp. 198-199 Commemorating Christ’s Death ***WHEN? HOW OFTEN?
Since it is fitting, right and a requirement for Christians to commemorate Christ’s death, how often should they do so, and when? When Jesus said, "Do this as a memorial of me," or, "Keep doing this in remembrance of me," did he mean for his followers to do this daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually? He himself does not specifically state, but we can reason on the subject and come to a proper conclusion. How often is any event of great note memorialized? Is it not yearly? Was not the passover celebration in commemoration of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage an annual one, and that at the express command of Jehovah God?—Luke 22:19; Ex. 12:14; Lev. 23:5.
Further, let us note that Jesus Christ is referred to as the passover (Lamb) sacrificed for Christians. (1 Cor. 5:7) This would suggest that his death should be commemorated as the original passover sacrifice was, namely, annually. More than that, since Jesus instituted the remembrance or memorial of his death on Nisan 14, the passover date, and also died on that day—the Jewish day beginning and ending with sundown—is it not reasonable to conclude that his death should also be commemorated in the same way, once each year on Nisan 14, there being only one Nisan 14 in the year?
Historically, for at least several centuries ever so many of the early Christians celebrated the death of Jesus Christ in exactly this way, once each year on Nisan 14, for which reason they were called "Quartodecimans," meaning "fourteenthers."
A noted historian of early Christianity, Mosheim, in his History of Christianity, the First Three Centuries, has the following to say about the Quartodecimans (Vol. 1, p. 529): "The Christians of Asia Minor were accustomed to celebrate this sacred feast, commemorative of the institution of the Lord’s supper, and the death of Jesus Christ, at the same time when the Jews ate their Paschal lamb, namely on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. For . . . they considered the example of Christ possessing the force of law; and, as is equally manifest, they did not conceive our Savior to have anticipated the passover, . . . but that the Paschal lamb was eaten by him and his disciples on the same day on which the Jews . . . were accustomed to eat theirs."
*** w76 2/1 pp. 72-73 "Keep Doing This in Remembrance of Me" ***
At the time when Roman Emperor Constantine made apostate Christianity the state religion (325 C.E.), the Council of Nicaea ordained that the celebration of Easter should always take place on the Sunday that immediately follows the full moon that happens upon, or next after, the day of the spring (vernal) equinox. Usually this equinox date is March 21. Should the fourteenth day from the new moon, which they regarded as the day of the full moon, fall on a Sunday, the celebration of Easter was deferred to the Sunday following. This was in order to avoid concurrence with the Jews and the minority of Christians, termed Quartodecimans, who still celebrated on the fourteenth of Nisan. In this way Christendom has come to have their "Maundy Thursday" always on a Thursday to commemorate Jesus’ Last Supper, and their "Good Friday" always on a Friday to commemorate his death.
At least by 1880 Jehovah’s anointed worshipers had departed from Christendom’s practice of celebrating the Lord’s Evening Meal several times a year and they observed it only on Nisan 14 after sundown. From then till about 1919 the anointed Christians accepted the dates as established by the Jewish calendar for the determining of Nisan 14. They realized that the Jewish calendar listed "Passover" for Nisan 15, after sundown. Nevertheless, these anointed Christians arranged to celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal on the night of Nisan 14, even as did Jesus. Still, these Christians used the Jewish calendar in accepting the determination of the month of Nisan for each year.