this day. Melito is widely remembered for his supersessionism, a belief that the Jewish people fail to fulfill the Old Covenant due to their lack of belief in Jesus Christ. However, he was not satisfied with dismissing Judaism as misguided, and compared Jewish practice to a first draft that, in the wake of Christianity, ought to be "destroyed" or "dissolved." He closes with the fervid accusation "you smashed the Lord to the ground, you were razed to the ground. And you lie dead, while he rose from the dead. His writings raise questions about the anti-semitic foundations of Christian theology that modern Christians still struggle to answer. Issues raised by the Quartodeciman controversy Attracting the attention of persons such as Epiphanius, Chrysostom, and Pseudo-Hippolytus, Quartodeciman practices have encouraged many to deeply ponder questions pertaining to the duration of the period of fasting, and when it should end within the celebration of any Christian Passover. Another question which bothered many individuals was whether everyone ought to uniformly observe Easter on the same day. Melito thought that the Christian Passover should be on the 14th of Nisan, but the Council of Nicaea determined that Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead should always be celebrated on a Sunday. Uniformity in church practice was thus the primary drive behind this initiative. Known for following a Johannine chronology, and for believing in a paschal lamb typology, Quartodeciman thought is constituted as such. One of the issues raised is that Quartodeciman thought is the idea that Christian Passover would be celebrated at the same time as Jewish Passover. Ultimately the Council of Nicea decided otherwise and agreed that it would always be on a Sunday. Apology to Marcus Aurelius During the controversy in Laodicea over the observance of Easter, Melito presented an Apology for Christianity to Marcus Aurelius, according to Eusebius, in his Chronicon, during the years 169–170 AD. A Syriac translation of this apology was rediscovered and placed in a British museum where it was translated into English by Cureton. In this apology, Melito describes Christianity as a philosophy that had originated among the barbarians, but had attained to a flourishing status under the Roman Empire. Melito asks the emperor to rethink the accusations against the Christians and to renounce the edict against them. Melito argues that Christianity had in no way weakened the empire which continued to grow despite the presence of Christianity. Complaining