interestedtoknow-ga:
This is a very good question! The answer is because the calendar
systems that have been used by various groups at various times over
the past 2004 years have featured many changes and disparities from
the calendar systems used at the time that the Scriptures were
originally written. This webpage explains it best:
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(excerpt from: KenCollins.com: The Season of Easter)
http://www.kencollins.com/cgi-bin/holy-06.asp
"By this time, the vast majority of Christians had long since given up
using the Jewish calendar to determine the date of Easter. Instead,
they figured it independently. They reasoned that at the time of the
Last Supper, Nisan began with the new moon after the spring equinox.
The full moon occurs on the fourteenth day, which would have been the
Jewish Passover. According to Scripture, Jesus rose from the grave on
the Sunday that immediately followed. So they celebrated the
Resurrection on the first Sunday after the first full moon that
followed the spring equinox. However, since there was no standard way
to calculate the spring equinox, it was still possible for different
regions to celebrate Easter on different Sundays. This was a problem,
because Christians who lived on the edges of these regions got into
unseemly disputes, and intellectual pagans derided Christians for not
being able to figure out their own holy days. In those days, of
course, Christianity was a minority religion for which the public did
not have much respect and disputes about Easter weren?t helping
evangelism."
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Thus, you can see that even figuring out the 'correct' date to
celebrate Easter is a mathematical exercise. Good Friday, being simply
the Friday before Sunday, is therefore as variable in date as Easter
Sunday is.
This website is quite a good one, for understanding the holy days for
Christians. It is also quite good at pointing out that there are clear
differences between how the 'Western' and 'Eastern' Christian churches
calculate and celebrate the holy days, even in modern times. The
description that you will find on the above page for calculating
Easter Sunday using the modern Gregorian Calendar is very helpful, as
is the Calendar generator that you will find elsewhere on the site.
For example, I recommend you read (in addition to the above page):
Ken Collins' Web Site (home page)
http://www.kencollins.com/default.asp
Three days and three nights?
http://www.kencollins.com/Question-09.htm
Holy Days and Holidays
http://www.kencollins.com/holy-00.htm
Find Holy Days and Learn About the Calendar
http://www.kencollins.com/holydays.htm
Days of the Week
http://www.kencollins.com/holy-08.htm
For other sites that provide addition, but not as rich, information,
please take a look at:
Why do the dates of Good Friday and Easter Sunday differ every year? - bmedia.co.za
http://www.bmedia.co.za/faq/good_friday.htm
Catholic Encyclopaedia
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06643a.htm
I hope this helps!
aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher
Search Strategy
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