The Error of Easter Observance
At Easter-tide in our meditations we stand beside the empty tomb and behold the risen Lord in triumph on the other side of death and the grave, and hear the words, "All hail!" as he meets and greets his disciples.—Harbinger. In this sense the Christian's "Easter-tide" should be perennial. Just why in his meditations he needs to be brought any nearer to the tomb and to the triumph at that time than at any other season of the year, has never been explained. The great trouble about these man-appointed times and seasons for certain phases of devotion is that so much is made of the occasion that the object is lost sight of for the remainder of the year. There is little heart work in the sentimental Christianity that can only meditate upon the empty tomb and the triumph of the risen Saviour at Easter time. But, like the other times and days resting solely upon "church" authority, the Easter is a compromise with idolatry. Every day in the church calendar was established by the authority of "the mother" church, and every church that observes these days becomes partaker in "the mother's" idolatry.