Satan is a master deceiver, and has filled the lives of … All the fun things about Easter are pagan. ." These symbols demean the truth of Christ's death and resurrection. Pagan Easter Themes Commentators have cited numerous reasons why cultures have chosen to celebrate Easter in some form. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and also teaches Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC. Bunsen calls attention to the mundane egg, the emblem of generative life, proceeding from the mouth of the great god of Egypt. If Easter doesn't come from the Bible, and wasn't practiced by the apostles and early Church, where did it come from? Ishtar, or sometimes known as Astarte or Ashtoreth, was worshiped in different countries. The truth is that the forty days of Lent, eggs, rabbits, hot cross buns and the Easter ham have everything to do with the ancient pagan religion of Mystery Babylon. Easter is preceded by Lent – a period of fasting in memory of Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. [28] For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But this didn't happen immediately. This video goes into the true history of Easter and delves into its pagan roots. Author Greg Dues, in his book Catholic Customs and Traditions, elaborates on the symbolism of eggs in ancient pre-Christian cultures: "The egg has become a popular Easter symbol. "Easter: The English term, according to the [eighth-century monk] Bede, relates to Eostre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring, which deity, however, is otherwise unknown . The exact origins of the Easter bunny are clouded in mystery. Easter is a pagan holiday that has morphed its way into Christianity. People held feasts in her honor during the period of Ēosturmōnaþ, an ancient celebration held during the month of April. But it is also a season when, in pre-modern Europe, food would have been running low. As pagans were transformed by the Gospel, the Christian celebration took the pagan name. Some Christians prefer the name Resurrection Sunday instead of Easter. Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic, Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. (You can read more of the details in our free booklet Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe?). [25] After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me. . Honored in the early spring, it praised the pagan Saxon goddess Eastre. Easter is one of the most popular religious celebrations in the world. My channel publishes videos that focus on wrong doctrines, dispensationalism, end times and KJV as the only word of God. And again, Easter was a pagan festival, originating in the worship of other gods, and was introduced much later into an apostate Christianity in a deliberate attempt to make such festivals acceptable. So "Easter" is found in the Bible—as part of the pagan religion God condemns!). Privacy Policy  Terms of Use. The pagan festival of Easter originated as the worship of the sun goddess, the Babylonian Queen of Heaven who was later worshipped under many names including Ishtar, Cybele, Idaea Mater (the Great Mother), or Astarte for whom the celebration of Easter is named. The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter – By Joanna Gillan Easter is a festival and holiday celebrated by millions of people around the world who honor the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred three days after his crucifixion at Calvary. . Creation myths of many ancient peoples center in a cosmogenic egg from which the universe is born. The festival of Pasch [Passover] held by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish feast . The most popular non-chocolate holiday related candy in the United States is Marshmallow Peeps. Dyed eggs were sacred Easter offerings in Egypt, as they are still in China and Europe. How does The Catholic Encyclopedia define Easter? If Easter doesn't come from the Bible, and wasn't practiced by the apostles and early Church, where did it come from? Although Easter is truly a Christian holiday, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, it has Pagan roots, as well. In fact, it distorts the truth of the matter. When Tammuz dies, Ishtar is … Easter is a time of springtime festivals. In the one place it does appear, the King James translators mistranslated the Greek word for Passover as "Easter.". Have you ever looked into Easter's origins and customs and compared them with the Bible? When confronted with these facts about Easter, many professing Christians might raise this question to justify its continuance: With hundreds of millions of well-meaning Christians observing Easter, doesn't this please Jesus Christ? The ancient religious practices and fertility symbols associated with her cult existed long before Christ, and regrettably they have largely replaced and obscured the truth of His death and resurrection. Notice what The Encyclopaedia Britannica says about this transition: "There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers . Yet nowhere do we find a hint of anything remotely resembling an Easter celebration. According to history, there is a pagan, origin story behind what is now regarded as a religious holiday. Hi, I'm Dr Gene Kim (UC Berkeley \u0026 PBI) and I pastor a church at San Jose Bible Baptist Church. Should Christians Observe Easter or Passover. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre, a great northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. Question: "What are the origins of Easter?" What these sources tell us is that human beings replaced the symbolism of the biblical Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread with Easter eggs and Easter rabbits, pagan symbols of fertility. Vine—a trained classical scholar, theologian, expert in ancient languages and author of several classic Bible helps—tells us: Easter isn't a Christian or directly biblical term, but comes from a form of the name Astarte, a Chaldean (Babylonian) goddess known as "the queen of heaven." Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day after his cruxifixion. Eggs were symbolical from an early time. But in English-speaking countries, and in Germany, Easter takes its name from a pagan goddess from Anglo-Saxon England who was described in a … The Gospels themselves appear to have been written from about a decade after Christ's death and resurrection to perhaps as much as 60 years later (in the case of John's Gospel). In Christian countries Easter is celebrated as the religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God. So, let’s cover what Easter is. Human beings replaced the symbolism of the biblical Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread with Easter eggs and Easter rabbits, pagan symbols of fertility. Pagan Origin of "Easter" Nevertheless, Easter did not always signify Christ's resurrection from the dead and the purpose of Easter was considerably different than what Christians observe today. Rabbits are part of pre-Christian fertility symbolism because of their reputation to reproduce rapidly" (p. 102). And again, Easter was a pagan festival, originating in the worship of other gods, and was introduced much later into an apostate Christianity in a deliberate attempt to make such festivals acceptable.Moreover, Easter was very different from the Old Testament Passover or the Passover of the New Testament as understood and practiced by the early Church based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles. 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. If that sounds like it could be helpful for you, please subscribe! 828-829). Easter is the second biggest candy-eating holiday of the year for Americans. [24] And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. United Church of God is a 501(c)3 organization. The story of Easter also helps explain how Sunday became sacred and the origin of virgin worship. The subtopic "Easter Rabbit" states that "the rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility" (ibid.). Since this myth was discovered on tablets dating back to around 2500 BC, Tammuz and Ishtar might be the protagonists of the first pagan Easter story. "The inflexible Protestantism of the primitive missionaries, with their fiery denunciation of heathendom, had been exchanged for the supple policy, the easy tolerance, the comprehensive charity of shrewd ecclesiastics, who clearly perceived that if Christianity was to conquer the world it could do so only by relaxing the too rigid principles of its Founder, by widening a little the narrow gate which leads to salvation" ( The Golden Bough, 1993, p. 361). The use of rabbits in Easter celebrations is an inherently pagan tradition which was co-opted by early Christians; Rabbits are in fact the symbol of various fertility goddesses, such as Ishtar or Ēostre; Rabbits have nothing to do with the resurrection story; To assess whether this is true, let’s scrutinise each of these points individually. Something critical is missing in the story of Easter and it has everything... Should Christians celebrate Easter or Passover... Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 50 years, as a public speaker for 54 years, a published writer for 34 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. 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 to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. Thus said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her: you will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. She was the symbol of the resurrection of all nature and was worshipped in early spring. Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, in its entry "Easter," states: "The term ‘Easter' is not of Christian origin. The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an "Easter Ham", decorated eggs and stories about rabbits. What the ecclesiastical record of the second century reveals is that there was a controversy over the fourteenth— specifically, it concerned the change from the fourteenth of Nisan (Passover) to Easter, with all of its pagan connections, associations, and typologies of fertility and fecundity. Easter, a pagan festival with its pagan fertility symbols, replaced the God-ordained festivals that Jesus Christ, the apostles and the early Church observed. It represented the tomb from which Jesus came forth to new life" (1992, p. 101). It was originally a holiday to the fertility goddess Aestarte, or Diana of Ephesus in the book of Acts. [28] But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. The English term Easter is of pagan origin ” (Albert Henry Newman, D.D., LL.D., A Manual of Church History, p. 299). © 1995–2021 All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@ucg.org. ", The Greek word translated Easter here is pascha, properly translated everywhere else in the Bible as "Passover." Rabbits are notorious for breeding hence the Easter Bunnies. British historian Sir James Frazer notes how Easter symbolism and rites, along with other pagan customs and celebrations, entered into the established Roman church: "Taken altogether, the coincidences of the Christian with the heathen festivals are too close and too numerous to be accidental. Not until A.D. 325—almost three centuries after Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected—was the matter settled. Catholic Doctrine simply paralleled the pagan death and resurrection myths of the gods with the story of Christ's crucifixion and Ascension. The word Easter appears only once in the King James Version of the Bible (and not at all in most others). . In fact, many credible sources substantiate the fact that Easter became a substitute festival for the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. "In ancient Egypt and Persia friends exchanged decorated eggs at the spring equinox, the beginning of their New Year. The subtopic "Easter Eggs" tells us that "the custom [of Easter eggs] may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter" (ibid., p. 227). If the Easter story only stands as a remembrance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, then it is symbolic of his return from death; a release of the devil’s hold on the ancient world. Bible Baptist Church but even that part isn ’ t true either events which those foreshadowed... Bce, the son of God Ishtar, fell from heaven to the fertility goddess,! 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