<> Ask the Pastor The Rev. Walter P. Snyder This week marks the two hundredth edition of Ask the Pastor. We honor the occasion by examining four rather varied questions that have recently come in. Q: Should I, as a Christian, I should believe in reincarnation? It seems to me that I've been hearing a lot about this lately from people who have read a book by Sylvia Browne. A: Consider this Scripture: "And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28)" This is the clearest, although by no means only, passage that I could think of regarding the finality of death. There is no "second chance," nor any "endless cycle." We live; we die; we either go to heaven as believers or to hell as unbelievers. Anything else is outside the Scriptures. Q: Should the Ten Commandments be required subject material in our public schools? A: It depends on who teaches and how they're taught. Many who claim to be Christian do more damage to God's Word than do some who claim to be atheist or pagan. However, I think that they should be displayed in our schools, both because our country was founded upon their moral code and because the founders acknowledged (at least in passing) the need for the Divinity and the fact that all rights come not from government, but from Him. Q: Why is Easter celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox? I believed Easter was the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If so, is it an anniversary of these events? If it is, why is it not celebrated on the same date every year as Christmas is? If it isn't, who came up with the formula used to calculate the day on which it should fall? A: It was a compromise set by one of the early church councils: Nicea (AD 325) established that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox, or one week later if the full moon falls on Sunday. Christmas' date for observation was actually, if I remember correctly, established based upon the date of the Annunciation (plus nine months). The Annunciation was also used to calculate the birth of John the Baptizer. Easter was linked by lunar calculation to the Passover, providing a tie to the celebrations of Israel and reminding the Church that Good Friday-Easter is our Passover and Red Sea crossing and that Christ was, is, and will be our Paschal feast. Now you have the gist of it. Variances in calendars and mutual condemnations of each other have separated the Eastern and Western Church. The East refused the Julian Calendar and thus their Christmas celebration doesn't occur in conjunction with ours. And in the East, Epiphany is actually observed with more rite and celebration than is the Nativity. As for the "anniversary" status of Easter, you see that it is an annual observation. Still more, it is a weekly observation. Friday fasting came as a way of always remembering Good Friday while Sunday services with the Lord's Supper became the norm. These provided a weekly reminder of, and participation in, the death and resurrection of Jesus. So also daily confessing our sins to God and receiving assurance of his forgiveness from Scripture, fellow Christians, and especially our pastors return us to the sin-killing, life-giving waters of Holy Baptism. In so doing, we are then daily participants in the death and resurrection as our old sinful nature (the Old Adam) is killed by God's Law and a new creature is raised to life in the Gospel promise of full remission of sins. Q: I'm not trying to pick a fight; I'm only seeking scriptural reference condoning a homosexual lifestyle for pastors, priests, and church leaders. Are there "any" scripture references supporting this topic? A: If you mean, "Can one find any Scripture that allows for homosexual clergy?" then the answer is a resounding NO. The Bible speaks both of the innate sinfulness of homosexuality and furthermore (Romans 1:26-27) of how God uses it as punishment for other sinfulness. This, in and of itself, is hardly the beginning one needs to make in the holy ministry. That's it for now. You can submit questions by mail to "Ask the Pastor," PO Box 1080, Jasper, Texas, 75951; E-mail xrysostom@aol.com; or just stop me on the street. Walter Snyder is the pastor of St. Paul and Faith Lutheran Churches in Jasper and Woodville, Texas and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe? A Study Guide in Christian Teachings for Adults." Copyright (c) 1999 by Walter P. Snyder Permission is granted by author to reproduce or retransmit this by any means, provided that its content is not altered, that this notice of copyright and permission is included, and that no financial gain is realized.