The rare convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter recalls a shared religious journey
Charles L. Cohen is E. Gordon Fox Professor of American Institutions, Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author ofThis spring, a set of major Muslim, Jewish and Christian religious observances overlap. The month-long fast of Ramadan began on April 2, Passover started on the evening of April 15, and Easter Sunday – the end of Holy Week – falls on either April 17, for Western Christendom, or April 24, for Eastern Orthodoxy.
The Islamic calendar, in contrast, consists of 12 lunar months – as mandated in the Quran – and thus is shorter than either the Jewish or Christian calendars. As a result, its festivals migrate against the solar calendar in a 33-year cycle. By 2025, Ramadan will end in March, while Passover will not begin until the evening of April 12, and – in another relatively rare congruence – all Christians will mark Easter on April 20.
Although the Christian liturgical year is structured around the life of Christ, its emphases are theological rather than historical. Many days honour saints and martyrs, but rather than weaving an annual narrative of ecclesiastical history, the calendar highlights Christ’s salvific work. Easter itself – theologically the most important feast of all – celebrates the Resurrection, Christ’s triumph over sin and death, and the ground for Christians’ expectations of eternal life.
Historical circumstances have figured importantly in how each calendar took shape. Much of the Jewish calendar’s mathematics show the influence of the Babylonian exile. The Christian calendar reflects the Church’s origins as a predominantly gentile movement within the Roman empire, whose calendar it appropriated for its own purposes and, in the process, distinguished itself from Judaism.
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