Nizäa, das Judentum und das Osterfest

Leonhard, Clemens

Abstract

The synod of Nicaea did not pass a law concerning the celebration of the Christian Pascha. However, the fathers discussed the question. Before the synod, Christian churches celebrated the Pascha on different dates and used different methods to determine their respective date. Polemics about these dates concern these methods. The position of the celebration vis-à-vis the spring equinox, the Jewish Pesach, the full moon, and/or the position in a computational circle of lunar months served as arguments in debates. In addition to that, Constantine sought an empire-wide unification of the date of the Pascha. On the one hand, the mere enforcement of a single date manifested the emperor’s power. On the other hand, the Christian Pascha was recast as a pagan holiday in this process. At the same time, its conceptual distance to the Jewish Pesach increased.