Seven Sisters and God.

[johnhugh]

I wonder how religious the Seventy Sisters are, as this seems an odd think to post on one of the holiest days of the year:

I had forgotten today was Good Friday until a friend texted wishing us a happy Good Friday. I was thinking “That’s nice of her…wishing us a nice Friday†Then it hit me “Oh!!! She means the actual Good Friday…yeah, I guess Good Friday is today isn’t it?!â€

So yes, today was Good Friday…but it also was a good Friday! Here’s just a couple reasons why!

(! Count = 6)

[gustava]

Still think we should introduce these females to the Arndt males.

[mockingbird]

Is Good Friday a more "high church" thing maybe? (I mean celebrated more by Catholics and mainstream Protestants - similar to Lent?)

[Coconut Flan]

Probably more formal church for sure. My southern Baptist neighbors go to a community service and that is encouraged by their pastor. Many Baptist churches wouldn't have a special service though.

[HoneyBunny]

I, too, thought that post was very strange. Anyone who identifies themselves as a Christian, regardless of denomination, recognizes the importance of Good Friday.

But then, I always think that anything 7 sisters do is a bit strange, especially when you consider their ages.

[chaotic life]

No, there's a movement in the ultra-Fundie circles to eskew Easter as a pagan holiday in the same manner they have rejected Christmas. While some Fundies are preserving it as "Resurrection Day," others are in fact simply having nothing to do with it because they claim it has pagan roots.

[Trynn]

Growing up as a Christian, I never knew Easter was supposed to be a Christian holiday, and I remember hearing about Good Friday for the first time at 11 and wondering what was so good about it?

My family was not opposed to celebrating Easter, it was just something we didn't do. Not everyone who is a Christian sees it as that big a deal, in fact, most I know do not.

[cjsmom]

No, there's a movement in the ultra-Fundie circles to eskew Easter as a pagan holiday in the same manner they have rejected Christmas. While some Fundies are preserving it as "Resurrection Day," others are in fact simply having nothing to do with it because they claim it has pagan roots.

So then how do they explain the resurrection being that a number of events lead up to the crucifixion (even if Easter itself has roots in pagan traditions), and when do they decide to observe it? If they don't observe this key event that's the basis for the religion they follow, how are they following it?

Same goes for Christmas. If you're not going to observe the birth of the messiah because that event is central to your belief, why are you choosing to stay home wearing flipflops until you're almost 30? Surely God and Jesus have a bit more to do than role of omniscient beings who bring you horses and parking spaces and never-ending pregnancy.

:angry-banghead:

[Free2BeMe]

I attended the Palm Sunday and Good Friday services at the local friendly United Methodist church here in peakcity, it was so beautiful with the scripture and music.

Each song selection and scripture excerpt followed along the stations of Christ's final days.

The Good Friday service incorporated art, music and a traditional service with candles and religious music. Each of the paintings-there were 11 total, I think- told a part of the moments leading up to the crucifixion, the aftermath and then of the Resurrection.

I enjoyed it very much. :)

[MajorMajor]

So then how do they explain the resurrection being that a number of events lead up to the crucifixion (even if Easter itself has roots in pagan traditions), and when do they decide to observe it? If they don't observe this key event that's the basis for the religion they follow, how are they following it?

-snip-

In the church I grew up in we didn't officially celebrate Good Friday or Easter because we had communion every Sunday, which to us was the celebration of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. If acknowledged at all, Easter was referred to as Resurrection Sunday. We did have egg hunts for the community most years though. I never quite figured out the cognitive disconnect.

[cjsmom]

In the church I grew up in we didn't officially celebrate Good Friday or Easter because we had communion every Sunday, which to us was the celebration of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. If acknowledged at all, Easter was referred to as Resurrection Sunday. We did have egg hunts for the community most years though. I never quite figured out the cognitive disconnect.

Observing each week through communion makes sense, thank you.

[kaetrin]

I've noticed quite a few evangelical churches who celebrate Easter but don't do anything for Good Friday. I don't really know why. Even some of the Sovereign Grace churches my friends attend, which talk about the cross/the crucifixion All. The. Time. (along with their general fixation on sin), don't have a Good Friday service. (One friend attends the Orthodox Good Friday service with me, if the dates coincide.) I think it's strange, but they usually just preach about the crucifixion AND the resurrection on Easter morning. Sometimes they watch the Passion movie, but no church.

Last year, Easter fell during our annual ski trip with the fundie inlaws, and they didn't do anything but go to church on Sunday morning. Even then, the BIL and SIL stayed in the resort (with their small children) and just watched an online sermon. And they're all really serious fundies who are not ANTI- traditional holidays the way some are, so I just don't get why they don't make a bigger deal out of it. I guess that's because I'm a crypto-pagan liturgical traditionalist. :-)

It doesn't make sense to me, because if they're going to observe Easter on the traditional calendar, which most of them do, why not observe Good Friday? It's just as "biblical" if that's what they care about. But many of them don't, so in the case of the Seven Sisters, I wouldn't assume that they were less religious than others, but just that their tradition is one of those that doesn't take account of Good Friday.

[divadivine]

I grew up Baptist and I never remember anything special about Good Friday. We celebrated Easter, but nothing for Good Friday. I went to public school and it was always closed on Good Friday -- all 13 years (Kindergarten to Grade 12). I don't know if that was just customary in the 80's-90's or if our school corporation and those around us, just had it built into the calendar? We also never had meat on Fridays. It was always Fish and Macaroni and Cheese, Cheese Pizza, or Grilled Cheese. We had a relatively significant amount of Catholic people in the area, but also a decent amount of people who were Baptist, Lutheran, and Methodist etc. Anyone else have a similar situation?

[redcurls]

As a kid, we always had a Good Friday service, but it was not like a normal church service. We (the kids) would be forced onstage to sing, some "contemplative hymns" would be played on a cassette, and there would be a very sad and depressing message. The lights were always lowered too. My church is pretty conservative and claims no denomination, acts like Baptists, but evidently follows the Campbellite tradition...which is a "whole 'nother story." Now, studying at a formerly Baptist college, I've learned that most Southern Baptist churches do not have Good Friday services.

What denomination are the 7 sisters? Do they have one?

[Ramona]

There's disagreement between some churches as to the dates and all that... One church I attended for a while, the Pastor had quite the rant he would make about how Jesus was NOT crucified on Friday, it was Wednesday (I think) and a bunch of other stuff. They didn't celebrate Good Friday or Easter Sunday.

like this: http://www.kjv1611.org.uk/No%20Good%20Friday.htm

Note: that link is quite insulting to Catholics, sorry! ~ I'm only using it because it shows the style of thought that I'm talking about.

[HereticHick]

I grew up United Methodist in the southern US--we always had a Good Friday service. And a Easter Sunrise service.

And all those hymns about being "washed in the blood of the lamb" that squicked me out as a kid!!!

[yewchapel]

I think the Seven Sisters are some branch of Strict Baptist? I think they said they weren't Anabaptist. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't celebrate Easter. Do they celebrate Christmas? I know Christians who celebrate Easter but not Christmas.

[Jenny]

I grew up Baptist and I never remember anything special about Good Friday. We celebrated Easter, but nothing for Good Friday. I went to public school and it was always closed on Good Friday -- all 13 years (Kindergarten to Grade 12). I don't know if that was just customary in the 80's-90's or if our school corporation and those around us, just had it built into the calendar? We also never had meat on Fridays. It was always Fish and Macaroni and Cheese, Cheese Pizza, or Grilled Cheese. We had a relatively significant amount of Catholic people in the area, but also a decent amount of people who were Baptist, Lutheran, and Methodist etc. Anyone else have a similar situation?

At my public elementary school we normally had pizza on Fridays. During Lent, however, fish sandwiches were served. As a (mainstream protestant) child I found this annoying because pizza is way better than fish. School was always closed on Good Friday and usually Easter Monday was supposed to be a day off but was often used to make up for a snow day.

I think the Seven Sisters are some branch of Strict Baptist? I think they said they weren't Anabaptist. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't celebrate Easter. Do they celebrate Christmas? I know Christians who celebrate Easter but not Christmas.

Yes, they celebrate Christmas. They don't do Santa Claus but they do exchange gifts.

[RachelB]

The liberal Protestant church I went to as a kid didn't have Good Friday services-- not because we disapproved of it theologically but because we did Maundy Thursday up big: two hours of readings, music, communion, sometimes a simple meal shared together, lots of lay participation. It was one of my favorite services of the year. (We occasionally spent Good Friday worshiping with Catholic friends, or at another Protestant church that did have services.) I share the assumption of some other readers here that some fundies associate Good Friday with liturgical or mainline ("lukewarm") Protestantism or (gasp!) Catholicism.

But what I don't get: a lot of fundies seem to be really into substitutionary atonement. If you believe that Jesus's death buys off an angry God who's demanding blood from someone or other, doesn't matter who, then the crucifixion (as opposed to the resurrection) is the means by which you are saved. Wouldn't that day then be worth commemorating?

Can someone who is more sympathetic toward substitutionary atonement help me out here? (I think Anselm was kind of misguided in treating 11th-century kingship as if it explained anything about the divine, and have some trouble taking his ideas seriously.) What am I not understanding?

[pookel]

As a secular Jew growing up in Baptist-dominated Oklahoma, I was never aware of Good Friday as a thing until I was at least in college. The Baptists ignored it, as far as I could tell. We had school that day. Easter was a Big Deal, but Good Friday was generally seen as something Catholics did.

[Diana]

Here we celebrate all the holly week, with procesions and especial mass and all, is the more sacred week of the year. I didnt expect that the protestants celebrated that the same way but is weird that they are so unaware of the date of death and resurrection of their God being this people so religious.

[Lillybee]

As an ebil Catholic, we did do Good Friday. There was a ceremony using the twelve Stations of the Cross.

[yewchapel]

The liberal Protestant church I went to as a kid didn't have Good Friday services-- not because we disapproved of it theologically but because we did Maundy Thursday up big: two hours of readings, music, communion, sometimes a simple meal shared together, lots of lay participation. It was one of my favorite services of the year. (We occasionally spent Good Friday worshiping with Catholic friends, or at another Protestant church that did have services.) I share the assumption of some other readers here that some fundies associate Good Friday with liturgical or mainline ("lukewarm") Protestantism or (gasp!) Catholicism.

But what I don't get: a lot of fundies seem to be really into substitutionary atonement. If you believe that Jesus's death buys off an angry God who's demanding blood from someone or other, doesn't matter who, then the crucifixion (as opposed to the resurrection) is the means by which you are saved. Wouldn't that day then be worth commemorating?

Can someone who is more sympathetic toward substitutionary atonement help me out here? (I think Anselm was kind of misguided in treating 11th-century kingship as if it explained anything about the divine, and have some trouble taking his ideas seriously.) What am I not understanding?

I share your confusion re fundies, PSA (penal substitutionary atonement - not all substitutionary atonement theories are penal) and Good Friday. A previous church of mine was big on PSA and so Good Friday was a big deal. This wasn't a fundie church but it surprises me that fundies don't have the same emphasis on Good Friday because of that.