Posted on 04/16/2017 12:38:42 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Was Easter actually borrowed or rather usurped from a pagan celebration? The argument largely rests on the supposed pagan names for the celebration in English and German (Easter, Ostern). Note, however, that in most other European languages, the celebrations name is derived from Pascha (Greek), from Pesach, (Hebrew), Passover. Easter is the Christian Passover.
[large snips here and throughout]
The usual argument for the pagan origins of Easter is based on Venerable Bede (673-735), an English monk who wrote:
Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated "Paschal month" and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month.Note: the forcible conversion of the Saxons in Europe began under Charlemagne in 772. Christians celebrated an Easter/Passover festival by the second century, if not earlier. Thus the Christian Easter/Passover celebration originated in the Mediterranean basin, not any Germanic pagan festival.
But does the name "Easter" come from the blurring of the Christian celebration with the worship of a English/Germanic fertility goddess named "Eostre"?. In his book, The Stations of the Sun Professor Ronald Hutton (a well-known historian of British paganism and occultism) says there is no evidence outside of Bede for the existence of this goddess....
Another problem with Bede's explanation concerns Charlemagne's renaming of the months. Charlemagne was the scourge of Germanic paganism. He forcibly converted them to Christianity and repressed them when they revolted because of this. It seems very unlikely, therefore, that Charlemagne would name a month after a Germanic goddess.
Hutton suggests that Eosturmonath simply meant "the month of opening," which is comparable to the meaning of "April" in Latin. The names of both the Saxon and Latin months were related to spring, the season when the buds open
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(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
I thought this article was concise, historically-accurate, and to the point
I had to cut it down quite a bit to fit into FR's excerpt rules. It would pay you to click the link and read the whole article!
To all:
There are aspects of Easter that have snuck in and crept in that have absolutely nothing to do with Christ's resurection or the bible.
One problem I believe is that the incident kicks off during the holiday of Eostre, a saxon goddess of fertility and festivity. That's where we get the word Easter pretty much.
It was all a coincidence.
I told my son that the Easter Bunny was probably jesus' pet. That usually works.
Did the link appear on your screens? And did my excerpt also appear? I seem to a problem viewing it.
Because rabbits.
“Why is it raining, Momma?”
“It rains when Jesus is crying, honey.”
“Why is Jesus crying, Momma?”
“It’s probably something you did.”
Venerable Bede , a Christian monk, is the ONLY source for this supposed 'goddess,' and Hutton says Bede's overall knowledge of paganism is very dubious.
This is followed up by several other strong arguments against the so-called pagan connection.
If the excerpts are not visible on your screen, the original article historically debunking the "goddess" hypothesis is here:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2009/april/was-easter-borrowed-from-pagan-holiday.html
Oh for the love of Jesus, HE IS RISEN!
The article wasn't about the bunny and peeps phenomenon. It was about the older question of whether Easter was much earlier (well over than 1000 years ago) conflated with Anglo-Saxon paganism.
The correct answer is: No.
That’s the way to pile guilt on the kid, mom.
The very name is almost a literal phonetic translation of the original Babylonian, celebrated on the same date.
The Bride of Christ should divorce herself from the pagan religions!
We'd be better off celebrating on Passover!
Happy Easter!
No neo-pagan excuses needed. If Christians spent half as much time looking for Christ as they do looking for the devil in every celebration, we’d all be better off.
Evidence? Link?
Bunnies and eggs are fertility symbols and VERY DIRECTLY linked to the Anglo-Saxon goddess. And the article is full of beans, because it was well over 1000 years ago Easter was conflated with Anglo-Saxon paganism. Every bunny and egg proves it.
The answer to the question is yes. I don’t care what historian or monk said what. Easter is pagan, Passover is not. The fertility of rabbits in spring matches the fertility rites of pagans. Instead of celebrating a pagan holiday, read the Bible instead. Celebrate Passover if you want to please Him.
My son backed off a Methodist Sunday School teacher who was telling kids Easter was a pagan holiday by telling her that he thought even someone with a learning disability would understand that Christ represents a new life for those who believe in Him if you explained things they were familiar with were symbols of new life just like Christ is.
He was seven and his teacher told me about it and said she'd never thought of it like.
I figure the my explanation had worked out Ok.
I just love these threads that ignore real history from the holy prophets of the so called ‘old Testament’. Passover ... final perfect sacrifice .. should be the most high Christian holy day, for the remission of sins ... not a spring orgy with rabbits and eggs doing a fertility dance of Ishtar ... watching the sun rise.
Only the ‘flesh’ body, which Mary bore died, the Spirit of the Son of God never died... To say HE is risen, missed the whole point of what happens when the flesh returns to the dust from which it came and the ‘soul/spirit’ returns to the maker that sent it. After all it was Peter that penned that while in the tomb ..... Christ went back to the ‘spirits’ (souls) back to the time of Noah and offered them salvation first.
But hey some people are dunk on their religions.
Thank you for this good article countering the “Easter is pagan related” arguments.
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