Liturgical calendar
- T15.1 Annual Pascha from Era I (Polycarp, with John); fuller calendar from Era III; differences of custom tolerated (medium–high)
- T15.2 Sunday Easter prevailed, but Asia kept the 14th from ‘an older tradition’ and Irenaeus urged tolerance (medium–high)
Two separate measures, shown side by side; neither is combined with the other (confidence-weighted, out of 4; counts show how many of this doctrine's 2 questions each rests on; ⚠ marks coverage more than 10 points below the median, a less certain rank). This doctrine is third-order (tier weight 1). How scoring works · Scripture and tradition · Glossary · Every score with its citation
Closeness to Scripture
Closeness to the fathers
Charts: closeness to the fathers by question, and timeline
T15 · Liturgical calendar
Observing feasts and seasons.
Tier: Third-order (scoring weight 1). How the tiers were set: theological triage. Method: conventions. Traditions’ sources: confessional sources.
In short
Christians kept a yearly Easter (Pascha) from the earliest times: Polycarp did so as he had with the apostle John. Christmas and other feasts came later. Scripture allows festivals but forbids forcing them on anyone’s conscience. The Westminster Directory abolished holy days; Lutherans and Anglicans kept them as helpful but not binding.
Plan
Question: T15.1: should the church keep an annual calendar of feasts (Pascha and others)? Scripture: Rom 14:5–6; Gal 4:10; Col 2:16; 1 Cor 5:7–8. Fathers: Eusebius, Church History V.24 (Polycarp and Anicetus). Question: T15.2: Should Easter fall on a Sunday?
Questions
Verdicts and trace
Weighed under the source-proximity principle: Scripture first, then the father eras I–IV.
T15.1 · Liturgical calendar
| Question | Verdict | Confidence | Reasoning | Key sources | Scripture (benchmark) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T15.1 | Annual Pascha from Era I (Polycarp, with John); fuller calendar from Era III; differences of custom tolerated | Medium–high | T15.1.1 · T15.1.3 weighing | eusebius-t15-s1 | T15.1.4: medium |
T15.2 · Should Easter fall on a Sunday?
| Question | Verdict | Confidence | Reasoning | Key sources | Scripture (benchmark) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T15.2 | Sunday Easter prevailed, but Asia kept the 14th from ‘an older tradition’ and Irenaeus urged tolerance | Medium-high | T15.2.1 · T15.2.3 weighing | eusebius-t15-s2 | T15.2.4: not a Scripture question |
Post-750 development
Which of this doctrine’s questions each tradition stays closest to, or departs from. Each row links to the tradition’s notes; exact scores and bases are in the reasoning.
| Tradition | Closest to the fathers on | Departs or sharpens on |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic | partly T15.1, T15.2 | — |
| Orthodox | T15.1, T15.2 | — |
| Oriental Orthodox | T15.1, T15.2 | — |
| Lutheran | T15.1, T15.2 | — |
| Anglican | T15.1, T15.2 | — |
| Presbyterian | T15.1, T15.2 | partly T15.1, partly T15.2 |
| Reformed Baptist | T15.1, partly T15.2 | partly T15.1 |
| General Baptist | partly T15.1, T15.2 | — |
| Anabaptist | T15.1, partly T15.2 | partly T15.1 |
Overall verdict
Pascha is Era I; traditions keeping feasts without binding consciences (Lutheran, Anglican) fit both measures best; abolishing all feasts departs from Era I. T15.2: Easter on Sunday is the shared custom except where holy days are not kept.
Verification status
Status from the score data: 2 tradition cells cite a text checked against an online source (marked verified); 5 cite the named article or practice without a separate check in this project (see each tradition’s section); 11 are not assessed (T15.1 Reformed Baptist, T15.1 Anabaptist, T15.2 Catholic, T15.2 Orthodox, T15.2 Oriental Orthodox, T15.2 Lutheran, T15.2 Anglican, T15.2 Presbyterian, T15.2 Reformed Baptist, T15.2 General Baptist, T15.2 Anabaptist), with the reason given in the reasoning page.