The Bible and...: Part 6g: Tradition: The Christian Year

The Bible and...: Part 6g: Tradition: The Christian Year
Friday, June 7, 2024 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Apologetics / Contemporary issues / Scripture discussion / Spiritual deception / The church / Thought for Today

The Christian Year. How did it develop, and what are its seasons?

The Christian Year developed gradually, although key elements were in place quite early, even to biblical times, for the celebration of Pascha, as 1 Corinthians 5:7 demonstrates. As for Christmas, we know from the writings of John Chrysostom that it was definitely in place by 387 A.D. We also noted in the previous post that Christmas was not linked to pagan worship on December 25, but to the later January 6. We also saw that at least in Bethelem, the Christmas celebration started much earlier.

While the main elements of the Christian Year were in place quite early, it was a few centuries before the seasons and their respective dates became standardized.

There are two main cycles: the cycle of life: Lent/Pascha, and the cycle of light, Advent/Christmas, with the Christian Year officially starting on the first Sunday of Advent. One of the primary goals for establishing the Christian Year was for the Church to have something similar to the Old Testamet cycle of Jewish feasts, with the focus on the key events of Christ’s life: His birth, crucifixion and death, resurrection, and ascension, along with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

For the cycle of life, we have 40 days of Lent, followed by 50 days of Easter. As every Sunday is considered a feast day, Lent—a time of preparation—excludes Sundays. Lent is spent in reflection, a time of repentance, of realizing our need for a Savior, for Jesus Christ, His impending death for us. The last week of Lent is the most important, with special services for the Last Supper, Good Friday, Holy Saturday (the day Christ was in the tomb), and Pascha itself. The last three were implemented the earliest, known collectively as the Triduum.

That lengthy period of repentance was followed by an even longer time of celebration. The intent of the Easter Season was to celebrate in joyful anticipation our future eternity to be spent with Jesus Christ. The focus was on eternity, on the joys of Christ’s Resurrection.

The cycle of light, Advent/Christmas, in some respects was a mini-version of the cycle of life. Advent is a time of anticipating Christ’s coming: both His second and first comings. Similar to Lent, it is a time of preparation, in this case of Christ’s birth. The Christmas Season came about by using both the Western and Eastern Calendars. It starts on December 25, ending January 5 (the twelve days of Christmas), with Epiphany on January 6. Typically, Epiphany celebrates either Christ’s baptism, or the visit of the Magi.

What we discover is that the original intent of the Christian Year was to focus on the key events of Christ’s life. Unfortunately, over time, the Christian Year degenerated, numerous problems developed, problems that from a biblical perspective, caused severe damage to it.

We will examine some of the problems in the next post.

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