To know the different effects of belief and unbelief in relation to Jesus Christ, we need only turn to art and compare the same subject treated by different men—say the “Crucifixion” or “Descent from the Cross” by Fra Angelico and by Rubens. The picture of Fra Angelico and by it never painted Christ upon the Cross without tears, and never took up his brush without prayer, is full of saintliness and love. From a technical standpoint it is far from perfect but such criticism is forgotten in the depth of pathos and of holy sacrificial love which the painting suggests.

When, on the contrary, Rubens took up the brush to paint the face of Him whom he nominally acknowledged as the Son of God, he approached his solemn subject “without any clearly perceptible traces of a soul.” His greatest work is generally recognized to be the “Descent from the Cross” in Antwerp Cathedral, and this painting has been selected as one of the twelve greatest paintings in the world. “It is a terrifying production in its force and brutality. The immense pictorial power of the artist is here, the grouping is marvelous, the coloring no less so, but the effect is terrifying. (pictured at the right)

“No painter ever depicted that awful scene with less spiritual mystery and greater disregard of Christian feeling than did Rubens here. The Christ in it is dead, hopelessly, finally dead; no glimmer of the resurrection morn lights with its tranquil rays the dreadful scene; Christian hope or feeling have no place; the workmen handle their victim with that callousness which comes from frequent and irreverent contact with the dead, and the whole and awful tragedy is chosen to exhibit the artist’s skill in grouping and to give his subject dramatic effect.

“This picture is art’s great commentary on the words of the Apostle—“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.”  

– James Burns

Easter – Setting the Date part 2 of 4

Not all Christians celebrated Easter on the same day. From 31 A.D. to 325 A.D. Easter Day was celebrated either as the Quartodecimans did or on a Sunday close to Passover Day. Both of these methods existed continuously throughout this period. The Christian communities under Rome's leadership always celebrated Easter on Sunday – the first day of the week. The largest group of churches churches that chose to celebrate Easter according to the Jewish calendar were those of Syria and Mesopotamia. They believed they had apostolic direction to celebrate Easter on the same day that the Jews celebrate Passover. The problem was that the Jewish calendar was constantly being revised and changed to make up for errors in calculation and misalignment with the seasons.

During the second century the differing date for the celebration of Easter resulted in the Easter Dispute. This dispute was not settled until until 325 A.D. by the Council of Nicea.The Council of Nicea, noting that Syria and Mesopotamia represented a small minority, required them to conform to the practice of the majority. The bishops from Syria and Mesopotamia agreed to this ruling and their churches complied with it. The Council of Nicea also ruled that all churches must celebrate Easter on the same day. Even though the dispute was supposedly settled, some Quartodecimans continued to celebrate Easter by their calculation until the fifth century. As a result of the agreements at Nicea, the Alexandrian Bishops were officially commissioned to announce the Sunday on which Easter should fall.

Due to the use of two different calendars the Easter Sundays of the Roman Church did not correspond to those of the Alexandrian Church. The Roman calendar was based on a cycle in which Easter fell on the same date every 84 years. With the Alexandrian calendar Easter Sunday fell on the same date every 19 years. The formula for the calculation of Easter became standard about the year 540. At this time Dionysius Exiguus introduced the Alexanderian calendar to Rome. This is the 19 year cycle that all Christian churches use to calculate the date for Easter today. The formula for the calculation of Easter is known as Nicene formula, although it cannot be proved that the Council of Nicea prescribed the mathematical formula that we presently use to fix the date of Easter.

Sources: The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, William Gentz | The Bible Almanac, White
| Easter a Pictorial Pilgrimage - Pierre Benoit |

Easter Quotations

The life and spirit of all our actions is the resurrection, and a stable apprehension that our ashes shall enjoy the fruits of our pious endeavors; without this, all religion is a fallacy.

       —   Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, 1635

The son of God was crucified; I am not ashamed because men must needs be ashamed of it. The Son of God died; it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd. And He was buried and rose again; it is certain, because it is impossible.  

Tertullian, De Carne Christe, 210

The death of Christ is the one truly revolutionary event that ever happened in the world.

W. G. Peck, The Divine Revolution, 1927