Easter letter
The Festal Letters or Easter Letters are a series of annual letters by which the Bishops of Alexandria, in conformity with a decision of the First Council of Nicaea, announced the date on which Easter was to be celebrated. The council chose Alexandria because of its famous school of astronomy,[1] and the date of Easter depends on the spring equinox and the phases of the moon.
The most famous of those letters are those authored by
The 39th Festal Letter of Athanasius
Of the 45 Festal Letters of Athanasius, the 39th, written for Easter of AD 367, is of particular interest as it regards the biblical canon.[4]
In this letter, Athanasius lists the books of the
He lists the books of the
Athanasius reckons the
In addition to the books that he calls either canonical or books to be read, he speaks also of books to be rejected, calling them apocrypha, and describes them as "an invention of heretics, who write them when they choose, bestowing upon them their approbation, and assigning to them a date, that so [sic], using them as ancient writings, they may find occasion to lead astray the simple".[8]
See also
References
- ^ "NPNF2-04. Athanasius: Select Works and Letters".
- ^ William Cureton (editor), The Festal Letters of Athanasius (Society for the Publication of Oriental Texts, London, 1848)
- ISBN 978-9-04290401-9. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
- ^ An English translation of the relevant part of the letter is available in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- ISBN 978-0-19965962-3.
- ISBN 978-90-4291154-3.
- ISBN 9780998839967.
- ^ "From Letter 39 (Athanasius)". New Advent.