What Are the Real Origins of Easter?

Good News Magazine ^ | Spring 2006 | Jerold Aust

[DouglasKC]

This passage has absolutely nothing to do with the celebration of Easter. It has to do with Aaron creating a false idol and then he and the Israelites committing idolatry.

Read it again:

Exo 32:5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD."

"LORD" is:

yehovah
yeh-ho-vaw'
From H1961; (the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: - Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069.

This word is ALWAYS used in scripture to designate the one, true God. It IS the name (or as close as we can come to the name) of the one, true God.

Aaron desired to honor the one true God. He created a golden calf to represent the one, true God. He proclaimed a feast to the one true God. God wasn't happy BECAUSE he had just spoken a commandment that we were to not make an image, any image, to represent him. He had already created the Passover and the days of unleavenend bread, biblical feasts of God.

The exact same situation occurs with Easter, only worse. Easter is closely associated with all sorts of pagan, idolatrous symbols. Easter is merchandised, packaged and sold. AND man has proclaimed that this is to honor the one, true God.

You're engaging in some serious eisegesis.

[DouglasKC]

Since your case is based on contrasting Easter with Passover, you don't get to just invent a difference when people start pointing out that the difference in names exists only in English.

What exactly is your argument?? That the Jews in new testament times were celebrating Easter, a pagan festival, and not the Passover, a festival ordained by God?

[DouglasKC]

One problem on the egg: The egg is traditionally part of the Passover Seder as well. It's not clear how long that has been a tradition and there is a variety of interpretations as to the meaning.

Clearly Jews had and have a lot of tradition that is not scriptural. Same as Christianity today. Christ upbraided the Jews of his time:

Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Jews thought they were doing what the one, true God wanted. Most Christians today think they are doing the same.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Perhaps... but the Torah doesn't specify every last detail of the Seder.... It says certain things should be eaten and certain things should not. However, it says nothing one way or the other on eggs. Having eggs as part the Seder does not reject a commandment, because there is no commandment against it, even as there is nothing that demands it.

Note, however, that eggs symbolize (among other things) mourning in Judaism. That is not part of the pagan tradition you are referring to. Even if it, why couldn't the pagans have borrowed from the Jews, as easily as Jews and Christians borrow from Pagans?

In any case, it's not clear when that symbolism became part of Jewish tradition, but for all we may know, it may have have been part of the Seder in Jesus's time. If so, it may be that Jesus had eggs at the last supper -- or, for that matter, some previous seeder that they had attended before that one.

Eggs are a symbol of mourning among Jews. Again, it's not my religion, but it seems to me that would make the egg a perfect Easter symbol of the suffering and death of Jesus, a Jew, even if you believe he arose again.

[kerryusama04]

1Sa 7:3 And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel saying, If you return to Jehovah with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts to Jehovah, and serve Him only....

[DouglasKC]

>> It was never kept in the bible. And as the article points out, it wasn't settled officially until 325 AD that Easter was to be kept by Christians. <<
False. Prior to 325 AD, there were differences in how to set the date of Easter. Do you celebrate it March 28th (3 days after March 25th, the date Jesus was crucified)? Do you wait for the following Sunday? Do you use the Julian calendar, or the Hebrew calendar?

Easter is not a biblical holy day so I don't celebrate it at all. I celebrate the days that God said to and that Jesus Christ did.

But the celebration of Easter was celebrated since the first century

Easter has been celebrated long since then. It became associated with the resurrection of Christ shortly after biblical times through the influence of Satan.

Yes, but these particular practices were unknown to Christians who established the recognition of Easter, so it is ridiculous to say that Easter stems from those practices

Nonsense. Rome wished to convert pagans so they used symbols and concepts which pagans were familiar with in order to convert them. From the article:

Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, in its entry "Easter," states:

"The term ‘Easter' is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven. The festival of Pasch [Passover] held by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish feast . . . From this Pasch the pagan festival of ‘Easter' was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity" (W.E. Vine, 1985, emphasis added throughout).

He commanded his followers that God died? Of course not! the good news is that through his death, Christ conquered death, and established that there is life afterward! Look to the examples of the apostles! Did they preach that Christ died, or did they preach that he died and was resurrected? Where did their hope lie? In his death, or in his resurrection? For without the resurrection, his death is mere tragedy; Paul says we'd have to be fools to practice Christianity without remembering his resurrection!

I honestly don't care what arguments you use to disobey the clear instructions of God and the practices and words of Christ. Yes, the resurrection was wonderful. But no, it's not a holy day and it's not how God wanted to be worshipped.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Easter is not a biblical holy day so I don't celebrate it at all. I celebrate the days that God said to and that Jesus Christ did.

Do you celebrate Pesach?

[Campion]

That the Jews in new testament times were celebrating Easter, a pagan festival, and not the Passover, a festival ordained by God?

Do you realize that if you translate this into any language except German, Dutch, and maybe Norwegian, it says, "That the Jews in new testament times were celebrating Passover, a pagan festival, and not the Passove, a festival ordained by God?"

You "pagans under every bed" fellows are amazing, and amusing. My God sat on paganism and smashed it flat; yours runs away from it. Maybe you just never understood the difference between the OT and the NT ... which is precisely that.

Funny, I seem to recall this fellow named Paul who said that it was fine to eat meat sacrificed to idols if you didn't believe in the idol and didn't thereby scandalize anyone, because the idol was simply ... nothing. A non-entity.

[DouglasKC]

Perhaps... but the Torah doesn't specify every last detail of the Seder.... It says certain things should be eaten and certain things should not. However, it says nothing one way or the other on eggs. Having eggs as part the Seder does not reject a commandment, because there is no commandment against it, even as there is nothing that demands it.

Most of the Jewish Seder meal is strictly tradition. Where in scripture are you finding requirements for a seder meal?

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Exodus 12 and 13, mainly.

[Diego1618]

They will be playing for the Stanley Cup in Hell

Three different words are translated "Hell" in the New Testament. Let's see if we can locate the next arena for the Stanley Cup Playoff.

In 2 Peter 2:4 you will find the word "Tartarus" used to describe the place where the sinning angels have been kept in chains in dark, gloomy conditions. The New International Version even calls it "Dungeons". This place is also alluded to in Jude 6.

In Matthew 5:29 Jesus is talking about "Gehenna", which was a garbage dump outside the city limits of Jerusalem. You can also see Gehenna referred to in Mark 9:42-49, Luke 12:5, James 3:6, Matthew 10:28/18:9/23:15 and 23:33.

Of course we are all familiar with the term Hades. It means in the Greek....simply, the grave.

So....take your pick. I guess the only one where the ice might melt on the rink would be "Gehenna"....with its unquenchable fire. Tartarus is dark and gloomy and Hades, at 6 feet under, would just be unpractical.

Hell........ another piece of "Main Stream Christian" mythology....just like Easter.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Problem is a lot of the commands in the Torah, could no longer be carried out when the Temple was destroyed. Many Jewish traditions, though not found in the Bible, are attempts to symbolically replace the Temple practices.

[DouglasKC]

Do you realize that if you translate this into any language except German, Dutch, and maybe Norwegian, it says, "That the Jews in new testament times were celebrating Passover, a pagan festival, and not the Passove, a festival ordained by God?"

Do you realize that calling a dog a pig doesn't make it a pig? In other words, calling a day 'passover' doesn't make it the passover of God.

You "pagans under every bed" fellows are amazing, and amusing. My God sat on paganism and smashed it flat; yours runs away from it.

My God tells me what days to observe in the bible. You disregard God's instructions in order to keep tradition. It's that simple.

Maybe you just never understood the difference between the OT and the NT ... which is precisely that

I understand that God created certain days to worship and honor him and never said to do otherwise.

Funny, I seem to recall this fellow named Paul who said that it was fine to eat meat sacrificed to idols if you didn't believe in the idol and didn't thereby scandalize anyone, because the idol was simply ... nothing. A non-entity.

Paul also said:

2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Unbelievers and believers alike are yoked together with Easter. Unbelievers have the bunnies, the eggs, all the pagan symbols. Believers embrace the same symbols. You ARE yoked unequally with unbelievers whether you recognize it or not.

2Co 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

[Quester]

God doesn't create in vain and he didn't create holy days only to have man ignore them.

So why weren't the NT Gentile christians commanded ... or even encouraged ... to keep these days ?

There is easily a much stronger argument from the New Testament ... that it doesn't matter what special days one keeps ... than that it does.

There are twenty-one books of christian instruction from the Apostles in the New Testament. Though these are full of doctrine, encouragement, and command as to the specifics of christian living, ... the keeping of special days is almost never mentioned, ... and then not positively (i.e. as regards specific days to be kept).

My take on New Testament teaching is that it majors on the maturing and conditioning of the heart, ... rather than the keeping of any external practices.

Paul says that the christian's focus is to be love.

If one lives within the context of abiding in ... and the sharing of ... God's love, ... then one will be sure to be carryng out the will of God for one's life.

Keeping the Law is Old Testament stuff ... it only served to bring us to the knowledge that we need the Saviour.

Once we have come to the Saviour and have made our peace with God, ... we are free to live our christian lives as we are led by His Spirit, ... and according to the higher principle ... of God's love.

[Diego1618]

Funny, I seem to recall this fellow named Paul who said that it was fine to eat meat sacrificed to idols

You're right. Paul was settling a dispute among the Christians in Rome who did not want to eat meat at all. That's why he says in verse 2 of Romans 14 "The one whose faith is weak eats only vegetables. He goes on to say, "Don't look down on them who do this"....and vice versa. He expostulates this position more in 1 Corinthians 8.

The reason the folks were unsure about this was because many meat markets in Rome sacrificed to idols....and they could never be sure of whether their meat purchase had been sacrificed or not. Many of them simply chose not to eat meat because of this....and a dispute evolved. Paul is saying in verse 1 of Romans 14, "Hey, this is no big deal!" "It is a disputable matter." "Don't pass judgment."

So.....what's your point?

[Quester]

Jews thought they were doing what the one, true God wanted. Most Christians today think they are doing the same.

If they (christians) are abiding in ... and spreading forth ... the love of God, ... they are doing what God wants.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Unbelievers and believers alike are yoked together with Easter. Unbelievers have the bunnies, the eggs, all the pagan symbols.

Shouldn't that be "yolked together"? 8>)

Believers embrace the same symbols.

No... People on both sides will often fight over the same symbols, because of the significance and power of the symbols. So, to take a political example, both Democrats and Republicans try to attach themselves to Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, etc.

[dangus]

Vine's work is noteworthy for its scope, not its accuracy. He starts his research already convinced religiously of the premise that the entire Western culture is in apostasy, and has been for 1600 years. He is of no particularly impressive linguistic education. His work is of note because of its exhaustiveness, not its excellence. And he didn't come to his flaky beliefs as a result of his work, rather, he initiated his work to support his flaky beliefs.

Vine is writing in 1985, (according to you; I believe he was long dead by then, actually), and obviously belongs to a crackpot sect, given his labelling of the entirety of Western Christianity as apostate. Using a source who starts from the premise that most of Christianity is apostate to define a term which you think demonstrates that most of Christianity is apostate does not grant Vine much credibility.

So, we must look at Vine's assertions. Where does he get his ideas? Unfortunately, Vine was not scholarly enough to tell us. "Chaldean" refers to a region of the northern Persian gulf. The only ancient reference to Eostre is in the writings of a 7th-century historian in England. How can Vine possibly know the two are related? Certainly Ashtereth and Eostre are not obviously linked by their names.

What then? What so filled Vine that he could declare apostate most of Christianity, and also make the completely unfounded leap to declare that Eostre was Astarte? Their names are hardly that similar.

It's also interesting that Vine chose to relate Eostre to Astarte, and not any of the other gods who have been suggested to be related to Astarte, such as Ishtar (which seems more similar to Eostre), Ashtoreth, and even Aphrodite. Could it be because Astarte was a name used by Satanic cults? Could Vine be pushing (*gasp*) an agenda?

[A.J.Armitage]

What exactly is your argument?? That the Jews in new testament times were celebrating Easter, a pagan festival, and not the Passover, a festival ordained by God?

I'll type this slow so it'll get through:

Easter *is* Passover.

[DouglasKC]

Unbelievers and believers alike are yoked together with Easter. Unbelievers have the bunnies, the eggs, all the pagan symbols.
Shouldn't that be "yolked together"? 8>)

Groan... :-)