Keeping Time (Part 1): An Epic Mars Hill Apologetic

I had intended to first look at the Church Calendar from an Old Testament point of view, as well as from a Christian conception of time. I still want to do that, but first I think it might be good to take a look at the practical effects and uses of the Church Year.

Much has been said of the “pagan origins” of certain Christian holidays.  The one that springs immediately to mind is Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve), stemming from the Celtic Samhain.  Other holidays that receive objections of paganism are Christmas and even Easter (Pascha).  We look at these origins and wonder, why did the Church adopt pagan festival days for its Christian holidays?  One view is that this was an error of the Roman Church, which was synchretizing with the paganism of the world and corrupting itself.

I suggest there is another more Biblical way of looking at it—namely, that the Church Year is, in fact, the apostle Paul’s Mars Hill apologetic applied on an epic scale.  So let’s take a look at what exactly Paul does at Mars Hill in Acts 17.

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

Acts 17:22-32

The two quotes that Paul uses here are from the Greek writers Epimenides and Aratus.  Is Paul endorsing a Greek conception of God?  Of course not.  Rather, he is taking their philosophical insights and religious practices (even their sacrifices!) and turning them on their head, wresting them from the paganism in which they were formed and re-purposing them to describe and illuminate the One True God.

In essence, Paul tells them that they have been sacrificing to God, whom they did not know . . . And here’s your chance to know Him! He takes their philosophers and poets and assumes that they had discovered a measure of truth . . . so, men of Athens, here is the rest of the story!

This is an apologetic method that most Christians today wouldn’t dream of using, for fear of appearing to endorse paganism.  But this was Paul’s method.  It was John’s method in the prologue to his Gospel account when he described the second person of the Godhead as the Logos.  And it was the method that the Church adopted throughout history as it formed its Calendar.

It started with Easter.  Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  So the Church began to celebrate the true Passover, leaving the shadow behind.  Incidentally, I don’t like to call it Easter, but Pascha.  Eostre is the goddess of the dawn.  She represents rebirth and fertility.  The Church displaces her and instead preaches Resurrection.

Christmas takes place around the winter solstice, when the pagan cults celebrated the returning of the sun.  It is the point in the year where darkness begins to recede and light begins to gain ground again.  The Church took this and said: You celebrate light overtaking darkness, but in ignorance.  Let us teach you about the True Light that shines in the darkness, Jesus Christ, who came into the world at its darkest hour.

At Samhain, the Celts celebrated the harvest.  On this day they believed that the spirits of the dead could pass between the world of the living and the underworld.  The Church fixed All Hallows Eve and All Saint’s Day at this point, in effect telling the pagan cults: You celebrate the dead in ignorance.  Let us teach you the truth that the souls of saints who have fallen asleep are with the Lord, and will rise on the last day.

Of course, the Church has a long way yet to go.  The application of this Mars Hill apologetic has not been perfect or entire in history.  Especially in this modern age, because so many Christians have relinquished their claim on these days, and on time itself, the Church has allowed paganism to creep back in.  We still have Easter bunnies and eggs, and yule, and ghosts, goblins and ghouls running free in our neighborhoods on Halloween.  There is still a great deal of work to do if we are to effectively displace paganism from the year and preach the Truth.

But the concept is sound and Biblical.  Wrest away from the devil what was never his to begin with, and turn it on its head in order to illuminate the Truth of Jesus Christ and his rule over time and space.

Pilate at the Laver

And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”
~Matthew 27:23-24

Usually we focus on what comes next. The Jews cry out “His blood be upon us and upon our children!” At face value, Pilate is simply denying any responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus. Symbolically, though, he is integrally involved in the very act.

A Jew reading this passage could not have missed it. Pilate is playing the role of the priest in this grand drama. He hands over Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice, and before doing so, he washes his hands in water. This is what the priests in the Temple did. They went to the Laver to wash and purify before offering sacrifice.

Pilate is clueless.  But he plays the part well, claiming the responsibility of priest by his actions, even as he denies it with his words.

Hong T. Chin, 1922—2009

There is something very dignified about the burial of an American veteran. Yesterday I, along with the brothers and cousins, carried my grandfather’s casket and laid it above the burial site. I held back the tears as the army guard came to flank the casket opposite the side where I was standing with my brothers and cousins. One stood at attention and saluted my grandfather as the bugler played Taps. They removed the flag covering the casket, folded it in silence, and then presented it to my grandmother.

Yesterday, my grandfather made me proud to be an American again. In these past couple years, I had nearly forgotten what that felt like.

My grandfather served as a rifleman in the army’s 29th Infantry Division during World War II. He disembarked on the beaches of Normandy in the second wave, was wounded by shrapnel at St. Lô, and received the Purple Heart medal. He was always proud of his service to his new country, but he didn’t talk about it much. In fact, he never talked much about himself. For him, others always came first.

Earlier on Monday, friends and relatives of my grandfather streamed into the funeral home. I met quite a few new people, many of whom gave accounts of my grandfather’s kindness and generosity. Of course, I had always known that my grandfather was kind and generous, but it was only in the past two days that I found how many people’s lives he had touched. Yesterday at the memorial service, the funeral home was packed.

On Easter Sunday, 2002, both my grandparents received Christ as their Lord and Savior and were baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. My grandfather was eighty years old. I look back on that day with joy, because it is the only source of hope that we have for those who have gone ahead. Because we who are in Christ do not grieve as those who have no hope.

1 Peter 1:22-25

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

A man’s life is but a breath. It is soon over. But those who are in Jesus Christ have an eternity to live for, since they are born of an imperishable seed. The word of the Lord remains, and his promises are sure. My grandfather will be missed by many today, but for us, our reunion is only a breath away.

But even that is not the end. For we were not saved to be with God only as disembodied spirits. The same body that I saw lying in that casket will one day rise again, in a glorified state. Just as my grandfather shared in Christ’s death and burial in baptism, he must also share Christ’s resurrection and glorification.

1 Corinthians 15:17-23

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.