The series of Pagan Holidays continues with Easter, I know for many, as it is for Christmas, it will be very difficult for them to let this pagan holiday go. The fingernails of Easter have dug into the skin with fond memories of finding Easter eggs or celebrating the resurrection of the Messiah. But what is the true meaning of the Easter egg, and more importantly does the holiday have anything to do with Yeshua coming back to life? Mainstream Christianity will tell you of course it has to do with Jesus resurrecting and that finding Easter eggs is a fun activity for children.
Three Days and Three Nights?
There are already problems with their claim, for how can the Messiah die on Friday and then be raised on Sunday when the Bible said he spent three days and three nights in the grave?
“But He answering, said to them, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Yonah (Jonah). “For as Yonah (Jonah) was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so shall the Son of Adam be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40)
Friday to Sunday will not give us the three complete days and nights, those who subscribe to this model can only do so by affirming that any amount of a day counts for a whole day. This is illogical, how can 6 hours equal 24? Or how can eating a slice of pizza equate to eating the whole thing? The absurdity of their claim is plain and evident to see, no matter how you dice it, a part can not equal the whole portion. What about this business of Easter being in celebration of Yeshua’s sacrifice? My Messiah is the Passover lamb.
Messiah is the Passover Lamb
“Therefore, when Pilate heard these words, he brought יהושע out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the Preparation Day of the Pĕsaḥ week, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Yehuḏim, “See your Sovereign!” (John 19:13-14) Pesah means Passover. My quotes from the Bible come from The Scriptures 2009, the free version can be found online.
“being declared right, without paying, by His favor through the redemption which is in Messiah יהושע, whom Elohim set forth as an atonement, through belief in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His tolerance Elohim had passed over the sins that had taken place before.” (Romans 3:24-25)
“Therefore, cleanse out the old leaven, so that you are a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also Messiah our Pĕsaḥ was slaughtered for us.” (1 Corinthians 5:7)
If the Bible continually refers to Yeshua as the Passover lamb, then why do mainstream Christians keep Easter and not Passover?
The Catholic Church’s Doing
The Catholic church made it a practice to “Christianize” pagan holidays, and mainstream Christian churches have followed in line with their treacherous mother.
“We further proclaim to you the good news of the agreement concerning the holy Easter, that this particular also has through your prayers been rightly settled; so that all our brethren in the East who formerly followed the custom of the Jews are henceforth to celebrate the said most sacred feast of Easter at the same time with the Romans and yourselves and all those who have observed Easter from the beginning.” (First Council of Nicæa, A.D. 325)
First off, keeping Passover is not a Jewish thing, it’s a Hebrew thing and if that statement confuses you please read through my posts under the tab Torah Related. Most sacred feast of Easter, who claimed that in the Bible? Absolutely no one! The Catholic encyclopedia uses a few choice words that are deceptive in order to promote their pagan holiday.
“The connection between the Jewish Passover and the Christian feast of Easter is real and ideal. Real, since Christ died on the first Jewish Easter Day.” (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
Passover is not the Jewish version of Easter that is a ridiculous statement to make, but the reason they use that type of language is to blind the masses. Because the mainstream Christian will then be indoctrinated to believe that celebrating Easter is for the Messiah and Passover is for the Jews when they were led out of Egypt. When in reality, as Paul promptly mentions, Yeshua is the Passover Lamb, not the Easter ham. Before we delve into the origins of Easter, I have to make you all aware of a purposely mistranslation that is found in the KJV of the Bible, other translations may use this as well.
“And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” (Acts 12:4)
The word used here is Pascha which comes from the word Pesach, this word means Passover, not Easter.
“So when he had seized him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to watch over him, intending to bring him before the people after Pĕsaḥ.” (Acts 12:4)
The Origins of Easter
Ok, now that is out of the way let us continue with our journey of discovering the truth. So, if Easter did not come from the Bible, then where did it come from?
“Since Bede the Venerable (De ratione temporum 1:5) the origin of the term for the feast of Christ’s Resurrection has been popularly considered to be from the Anglo-Saxon Eastre, a goddess of spring…the Old High German plural for dawn, eostarun; whence has come the German Ostern, and our English Easter” (The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. 5, p. 6).
“The fact that vernal festivals were general among pagan peoples no doubt had much to do with the form assumed by the Eastern festival in the Christian churches. The English term Easter is of pagan origin” (Albert Henry Newman, D.D., LL.D., A Manual of Church History, p. 299).
“Easter—the name Easter comes to us from Ostera or Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, for whom a spring festival was held annually, as it is from this pagan festival that some of our Easter customs have come” (The Easter Book of Legends and Stories by Hazeltine, p. 53).
“This Ostarâ, like the Eástre, must in heathen religion have denoted a higher being, whose worship was so firmly rooted, that the Christian teachers tolerated the name, and applied it to one of their own grandest anniversaries.” (“Deutsche Mythologie” by Jacob Grimm)
“In Babylonia…the goddess of spring was called Ishtar. She was identified with the planet Venus…In Phoenecia, she became Astarte; in Greece, Eostre and in Germany, Ostara…” (Easter Parade (An Avon Camelot Book) by Englehart, p. 4)
“The reasons for celebrating our major feasts when we do are many and varied. In general, however, it is true that many of them have at least an indirect connection with the pre-Christian feasts celebrated about the same time of year -- feasts centering around the harvest, the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice (now Dec. 21, but Dec. 25 in the old Julian calendar), the renewal of nature in spring, and so on.” (The New Question Box -- Catholic Life for the Nineties by John J. Dietzen, p. 554.)
“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 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.” (. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, article: Easter, p.192)
“The term Easter was derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'Eostre,' the name of the goddess of spring. In her honor sacrifices were offered at the time of the vernal equinox. By the 8th cent. the term came to be applied to the anniversary of Christ's resurrection.” (International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, edited by Geoffrey Bromiley, Vol 2 of 4, p.6, article: Easter)
“The name of a feast, according to the Venerable Bede, comes from Eostre, A Teutonic goddess whose festival was celebrated in the spring. The name was given to the Christian festival in celebration of the resurrected Eostre, it was who, according to the legend, opened portals of Valhalla to recieve Baldur, called the white god because of his purity and also the sun god because his brow supplied light to mankind. It was Baldur who, after he had been murdered by Utgard Loki, the enemy of goodness and truth, spent half the year in Valhalla and the other half with the pale goddess of the lower regions. As the festival of Eostre was a celebration of the renewal of life in the spring it was easy to make it a celebration of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus. There is no doubt that the church in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a Christian meaning to them.” (George William Douglas, The American Book of Days, article: Easter)
Easter does not have its roots in the Bible but comes from the pagan worship of spring. The Catholic church would assimilate pagan customs to garner new converts, as they did with Christmas , Halloween, and Valentine’s day. I could continue to provide quote after quote detailing the pagan origins of Easter, but I believe the point has been made. Now, what about the traditions that surround Easter?
Easter Eggs
“The origin of the Easter egg is based on the fertility lore of the Indo-European races…The egg to them was a symbol of spring…In Christian times the egg had bestowed upon it a religious interpretation, becoming a symbol of the rock tomb out of which Christ emerged to the new life of His resurrection” (Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs by Francis X. Weiser, p. 233)
“Around the Christian observance of Easter…folk customs have collected, many of which have been handed down from the ancient ceremonial…symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals…for example, eggs…have been very prominent as symbols of new life and resurrection.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333)
“Eggs were hung up in the Egyptian temples. Bunsen calls attention to the mundane egg, the emblem of generative life, proceeding from the mouth of the great god of Egypt. The mystic egg of Babylon, hatching the Venus Ishtar, fell from heaven to the Euphrates. Dyed eggs were sacred Easter offerings in Egypt, as they are still in China and Europe. Easter, or spring, was the season of birth, terrestrial and celestial.” (Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought by James Bonwick, p. 211-212)
“The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring… the egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring.” (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
“In ancient Egypt and Persia friends exchanged decorated eggs at the spring equinox, the beginning of their New Year. These eggs were a symbol of fertility for them because the coming forth of a live creature from an egg was so surprising to people of ancient times. Christians of the Near East adopted this tradition, and the Easter egg became a religious symbol. It represented the tomb from which Jesus came forth to new life.” (Catholic Customs and Traditions by Greg Dues, p. 101)
Easter Rabbit
“The Easter Rabbit lays the eggs, for which reason they are hidden in a nest or in the garden. The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility (Simrock, Mythologie, 551).” (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm)
“The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore…The Easter bunny has never had religious symbolism bestowed on its festive usage…However, the bunny has acquired a cherished role in the celebration of Easter as the legendary producer of Easter eggs for children in many countries.” (Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs by Francis X. Weiser, p. 236)
“The hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, a symbol that was kept later in Europe…Its place has been taken by the Easter rabbit.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333)
“Little children are usually told that the Easter eggs are brought by the Easter Bunny. Rabbits are part of pre-Christian fertility symbolism because of their reputation to reproduce rapidly.” (Catholic Customs and Traditions by Greg Dues, p.102)
“The Easter hare was no ordinary animal, but a sacred companion of the old goddess of spring, Eostre.” (Julian Fox, Easter, Vero Beach: Rourke Enterprises, 1989, p.11)
The number of sources that speak on the pagan origins of Easter and its customs is expansive, I provided just a handful of quotes but I strongly encourage everyone to do their own research. Indeed, looking into this topic has proven to be a rabbit hole so deep that it puts Alice and Wonderland to shame. I hope this post has sparked your interest in testing the origins of Easter. I pray that the Ruach Hakodesh leads you into all truth.
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