Reflection: Council Day 5

My most honored Emperor Constantine, Ossius, and fellow council members,

In my opinion, the council members did not put their best face forward on council day five. We forgot the rules of decorum and were more disgruntled and angry than the first few days of the council.

In regards to the creed passed concerning the celibacy of the clergy, I was indeterminate on the matter. I was more interested in hearing the rationale behind the two arguments. In my opinion, the canon is rather strict on the clergy and does not have the strong support of scripture in coming up with the mandate that clergy need be celibate. There was a quote during the council that Paul said if you have married, then you have not sinned, but celibacy is better. I believe that the view that celibacy is better than marriage is supported by numerous scripture, but it is nowhere mandated that clergy be celibate. Rather, it is a choice if someone wants to be clergy that they “marry” God and devote their life to serving Him better. Let each clergy decide if they are worthy of complete devotion to God.

I was quite pleased that the canon dating Easter was passed to align with the Jewish Passover. As Christians, who believe in Christ, we cannot deny that his crucifixion served as a passage way to our salvation. In accurately dating his resurrection, we must rely on the Jewish Passover in a historical sense. We can all agree that Jesus held the Last Supper on the first day of Passover, Holy Thursday. On Friday, Good Friday, the lambs were sacrificed for Passover. Good Friday was also the day that Jesus was sacrificed to the Lord for all of our sins, and for us Christians, he served as the final sacrificial lamb. It was not until the third day, Sunday, that Jesus was resurrected and the tomb was found empty. Therefore, we can know that Jesus rose on a Sunday. However, because Alexandria is known for its excellence in astronomical observation, we know that the resurrection occurred the Sunday following the 14th day on or after the Spring Equinox. We can follow the moon to give us a more accurate week frame of when the resurrection occurred. By using the date observed by an Alexandria, preferably myself, we distance our dating of the resurrection from the Jews and separate our two religions. This is no way forces the Jewish people to follow the Alexandrian calendar, but only applies to the Christians because we can accurately estimate when Jesus rose.

I hope that we can continue to make progress on the last council day and not stray from our goal for unity. As soon as we begin to bicker in an unproductive manner, we undo the good that has occurred over the past few council days.

Peace be upon you all.