Do any Christian traditions still forbid their members to celebrate Passover with Jews?
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Although the earliest Christians were Jews who, like Jesus, kept the Passover feast, the Christian church during the Roman empire did not keep this feast and even forbade Christians from celebrating it. Emperor Constantine I, famous for legalizing and supporting Christianity, acted to end reliance on the date of Passover to determine the date of Easter. In so doing [he declared](https://jewishcurrents.org/emperor-constantine-and-the-jews) :
> It appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most
> holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have
> impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin. . . Let us then have
> nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd. . .”
Various [Church councils](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/church-councils) prohibited Christians from celebrating Passover with Jews, eating with them etc. The Church Father [John Chrysostom](https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chrysostom_adversus_judaeos_04_homily4.htm) , who taught that the Jewish Passover was no longer valid, famously declared:
> Do you Christians not see that what the Jews are doing [in the Passover feasts] is mockery
> rather than worship? I blame the Jews for violating the Law. But I
> blame you much more for going along with the lawbreakers, not only
> those of you who run to the synagogues but also those of you who have
> the power to stop the Judaizers but are unwilling to do so.
These days, many churches not only allow Christians to celebrate Passover with Jewish friends in homes and synagogues, but even welcome rabbis or Jewish laypeople to lead Seders in church. Some churches warn against "Christianizing" the Seder by conflating it with the Last Supper but encourage members to join with Jews in celebrating the holiday. For example, according to [US Catholic](https://uscatholic.org/articles/202304/should-catholics-celebrate-passover/) magazine:
>Both Nostra Aetate (On the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions) and the U.S.
> Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document “God’s Mercy Endures Forever”
> prohibit Christianizing the Seder. These documents do encourage
> Catholics to observe a Passover Seder, along with other Jewish
> liturgical forms, at the invitation of Jewish communities.
My question is: do any denominations still forbid Christians from celebrating Passover with Jews?
Asked by Dan Fefferman
(7370 rep)
Mar 16, 2024, 04:41 PM
Last activity: Mar 16, 2024, 04:49 PM
Last activity: Mar 16, 2024, 04:49 PM