Passover Library Research

History of Christian Passover

Wikipedia has an article devoted to the Christian practices toward Passover entitled "Passover (Christian Holiday)." This is helpful on numerous scores, as it collects issues about passion week, the Quatordeciman controversy, etc.

Even while calling Chrisitans who refused to go along with the new time for Passover in the 300s, Epiphanius admits that Passover formerly was celebrated by Christians at the same time as Jews, but then changed. Epiphanius also admits those who refused to do so accused other Christians of accomodating Constantine. At Tertullian.org, we find this excerpt:

§70 - On the schism of the Audians (Excerpt)

This excerpt is taken from Vol. 2, pp.410-411; Book III, Heresy 70, chapter 9.

(2) For they choose to celebrate the Passover with the jews - that is, they contentiously celebrate the Passover at the same time that the Jews are holding their Festival of Unleavened Bread.  And indeed, <it is true> that this used to be the church's custom - even though they tell churchmen a slanderous thing in this regard and say (3) "You abandoned the fathers' Paschal rite in Constantine's time from deference to the emperor, and changed the day to suit the emperor." (4) And some, again, declare with a contentiousness of their own, "You changed the Passover to Constantine's birthday" ²⁹

9, 5  And if the Passover were celebrated on the same day each year, and it had been decided to keep it on that day at the council convoked by Constantine, what they say might be plausible.  But since the rite cannot fall on the same day each year, their argument is worthless.  The emperor was not concerned for his birthday, but for the unity of the church. (6) In fact God accomplished two highly important things through Constantine, the most beloved of God and forever the most blessed. [One was] the gathering of an ecumenical council, and the publication of the creed that was issued at Nicaea and confessed <by> the assembled bishops with their signatures - the deposition of Arius and the declaration to all of the purity of the faith. [The other was] their correction of the Passover for our unity's sake.

9, 7  For long ago, even from the earliest days, the Passover was celebrated at different times in the church... 

(I have omitted to transcribe several pages on the varied methods of calculating Easter used from the second century onwards).

Dennis Bratcher has an article on how to conduct a Christian Passover seder at this link. He able summarizes the holiday:

The festival of Passover, known as Pesach, begins at sunset on the 14th of Nisan (usually in March or April) and marks the beginning of a seven day celebration that includes the Feast of Unleavened Bread. -1- The focal point of Passover is a communal meal, called the Seder (which means "order," because of the fixed order of service), which is a time of rejoicing and celebration at the deliverance for the Hebrews that God accomplished in the exodus. Sometimes the meals during the entire period of Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread are referred to as Seder meals, called the first Seder, the Second Seder, etc., although usually only the first two nights are considered Seder meals.

Great advice is at how to "Host a Passover Meal."

Pasta

It is not leavened bread but the Encyclopedia of Judaism says it is chametz -- prohibited. It does not explain. See this link.

Incidentally, Passover is a "perpetual ordinance" (Exodus 12:14),

4/6/2012