Biblical Foundations of Christian Festivals
Christians, like the Jews, have developed a calendar of feasts to celebrate God's great acts of salvation. As explained in the following nine entries, these feasts are organized especially around the birth of Christ (Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany) and around his death and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit (Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost). Increasingly, churches are recovering these feasts as principal acts of worship in recognition of their relationship to the biblical events of salvation.…
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Chapters & Articles in Biblical Foundations of Christian Festivals (9)
Emerging from its Judaic background, the Christian church did not continue the observance of the festivals of Israe…
From New Testament times, the church met for worship on the first day of the week, the day of Jesus' resurrection. …
The historic starting point of the Christian year is the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the …
As the celebration of the birth of the Savior, Christmas calls attention to the mystery of the Incarnation, the vul…
The Epiphany, or manifestation, of Christ is a celebration of his revelation to the peoples of the world. The Epiph…
The season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, has traditionally been a penitential season, a time of preparati…
In the Western church, Holy Week is not a separate season but a part of Lent. In the Eastern church, Holy Week is a…
The celebrations of the Easter season have always been the most joyous festivals of the church year, for they focus…
The liturgical calendar, which sequentially presents events in the life of Christ, ends with Pentecost. The season …