Posted on 04/10/2020 3:01:19 PM PDT by Kaslin
Maybe you’ve seen the eyebrow-raising claims on the Internet or elsewhere in the media: rather than celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and triumph over crucifixion, Easter is really derived from a pagan holiday. Proponents of this theory point to symbols of rebirth and fertility, like eggs and bunnies, that we see at Easter as proof. But the foundation of the claim that Easter is a pagan tradition is the similarity in names: Easter, they say, is the English translation of Eostre, a Germanic goddess of fertility. (Others claim Easter got its name from the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, or the Ethiopian god Ashtar. That they have trouble keeping their story straight should be your first clue the Easter skeptics don’t have much in the way of actual evidence)! Others take the theory even further, arguing that the story of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection was lifted from ancient mythology—and therefore can’t possibly be true.
It’s intriguing stuff for people who wish to deny the divinity of Christ. But, much like the fertility myths surrounding Eostre, these claims are more fiction than fact. For starters, the word for Easter in many languages—including Spanish (Pascua), French (Pâques), and Romanian (Pa?ti)—is derived from the Hebrew word pesach, or “Passover.” Christians indeed borrowed many of their Easter traditions from another faith, but it was the monotheistic religion of Judaism, not paganism. Moreover, Ronald Nash, a philosophy professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, spent years thoroughly researching ancient mythology and found no evidence for resurrection stories similar to Christ’s. He did find a few examples of gods who died and then came back to life, but the circumstances bore no resemblance to Jesus’ execution and resurrection: “None of the so-called savior-gods died for someone else...Only Jesus died for sin. The other ‘dying gods’ tend to die because of accidents or quarrels. Jesus died once and for all, according to the teachings of the New Testament. Other stories involve the ‘god’ dying every year, corresponding to changing seasons."
As for Easter eggs and bunnies, there is little evidence that modern Christians lifted these symbols from pagans. In the early years of the Church, eating eggs was forbidden during Lent. Therefore, Christians celebrated the end of Lent and the arrival of Easter Sunday by cracking open beautifully painted eggs. And the Easter Bunny didn’t appear until sometime in the 1700s, when German immigrants in Pennsylvania introduced him into their Easter celebrations as a special surprise for children.
In sum, Christians borrowed their Pascal celebrations from the Jewish Passover. Easter traditions—whether it’s Orthodox Christians in Russia painting elaborate eggs or German Catholics delivering gifts to children from the “Easter bunny”—have varied according to regional and cultural traditions, and have changed greatly since the early days of the Church. But none of these traditions seem to have roots in paganism. Those who seek to undermine Christianity might tout this theory to make it seem as if believing in Christ’s resurrection has as much validity as worshipping animals or fertility goddesses. But the next time you hear these dubious claims about Easter and pagan mythology, remember it is just that: a myth.
A “Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring” ?
Well, yes, but much, much more than merely a pagan goddess of the rising light of day and spring.
She was, in the demented minds of superstitious pagans, a goddess of sex and fertility; of fecundity and procreativity.
Her symbols were, most importantly, the egg, and, secondarily, the rabbit.
Of course, rabbits don’t lay eggs, but many a child does not learn this until a later age.
Bunnies are cuddly to little children.
So are tiny chickens, and gaily-colored eggs.
Concerning Easter eggs, the Catholic Encyclopedia somewhat reluctantly admits,
Dozens of “quaint” customs derived from ancient superstitions and myths.
Most revolved around cupidity, and had suggestive fertility rites obvious in their execution.
The same source admits,
These, and many other rituals, were pagan fertility rites, derived from worship of the sun.
For example, the same source says,
Note that admission carefully, for it lies at the very heart of the matter.
Now, notice the origin of the name “Easter.”
Hislop says,
Did you even read that bub?
It says “according to Bede”
Perhaps English isn’t your first language, or you may not be able to read well.
Bede was the only one to note down a guess that there even was such a goddess. There is mo other attestation to that lady. There was no goddess called eostre
As English isn’t your first language, and other languages aren’t known to you, let me also point out that it’s onoy in English and German that Pasqua is called Easter / Ostern.
Why don’t you, Bob, call it as the Church has always called it Pasqua or Paschal
REad it - did YOU read it?
It states one source only for the existence of any “Eostre” - the guesses of Bede, who guessed it, 300 years after paganism died out in England
nah, you’re reading fake news. Do you also believe that the Russians put President Trump in power?
Constantine was in Constantinople - not Rome for one.
Secondly, he didn’t make Christianity the state religion - that happened 60 years later.
Thirdly - that ain’t from the Encyclopedia Brittanica - you got fake news there bub
oh and finally - you trying to say ishtar and easter are the same is hilarious and shows that you only know English.
Easter is the term for Pascal only in English and Ostern in German —> EVERY other language has pasqua/pasque/pascal/passover as the term (with the exception of polish which calls it wielkanoc - great night)
And Ishtar is pronounced ISH-tara.
Correlating two languages over 2000 years aparts (modern english only dates from the 1500s) is hilarious.
you really ought to read history and the bible
What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears the Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people of Ninevah, was evidently identical with that now in common use in this country. That name, as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments is Ishtar.
Source: The Two Babylons, by the Rev. Alexander Hislop, published 1943 and 1959 in the U.S. by Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, page 103.
The word Easter, which comes from the Anglo-Saxon, is a term derived from the pagan goddess of the dawn.
Source: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Revised and Updated, Copyright 1987, Robert C. Broderick, Editor, Thomas Nelson Publishers, page 177.
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/easter.htm
Jer 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Jer 7:19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
Jer 44:19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
You are correct that Easter is pagan. No doubt about it. And, I appreciated reading the article you posted (Should Christians Observe Easter or the Passover?).
Some in the old testament worshiped the queen of heaven. And, many do to this day. Call it what they will. It doesn’t matter to God. Easter is pagan. Sola Scriptura is something Cronos knows nothing about and never will. Cronos will say “Nah, Bub, you’re wrong.” Pay no attention. You are correct.
Thanks for the references and the link.
“Roman contemporary records of Jesus? He was put on trial, yet no legal of that time record exists, unless it is locked away in the basement in Rome”
Just to make it clear Jesus was not tried by the Romans, Pilate found that he did not violate Roman law, however he did send Jesus to the Cross.
Now if Pilate had known he was sending the Savior of the World to the Cross and not just a run of the mill Jewish dissenter I am sure he would have flooded the world with documents. But he seemed to be satisfied just washing his hands.
No one makes cakes to Astarte since 200 bc. You really should learn that just because something sound similar in two languages it ain’t the same
Easter is an English word.
The name for the feast is Pacal, pasqua.
English is a fairly new language.
And Eostre wasn’t anything more than speculation. There was no goddess by that name
The point you don’t seem to be able to grasp is that Easter comes from paganism and that’s a fact and re-branding it as a celebration of the day of the risen Lord doesn’t change anything. Others and myself have made that very clear. And you know very well that your church is built on baptized paganism. All of it is non biblical tradition and paganism.
The point you don’t seem to be able to grasp is that Pasqua comes from Passover and that’s a fact.
The death and resurrection of Jesus doesn’t come from paganism,
You may reject christ and consider Christianity pagan, but you are historically, factually and theologically wrong
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