By COGwriter
Easter-Sunday was not obsea rved by the Apostles nor the second century Christians in Asia Minor. They observed Passover.
Although many consider Easter as the most important 'Christian' holiday, but that is not a word that the Bible every uses.
Eostre was a pagan goddess of the dawn. She was also associated with the Spring.
Are there connection between pagan goddesses, pagan practices, and what is known as Easter today?
Yes.
In some regions, later naming and folk customs look to reflect syncretic adaptation, which impacted what is now called Easter.
This article will show some ancient origins of practices now connected to Easter as well as show some of the steps that look to have been involved in their adoption.
Passover
The Bible teaches:
5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover (Leviticus 23:5).
And Jesus had his disciples also keep it:
7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. 8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat." 9 So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?" 10 And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. 11 Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' 12 Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready." 13 So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. (Luke 22:7-13)
On Jesus' last Passover as a human being, He changed many of the practices associated with it. But He in no way suggested that it was not an annual Passover, nor did He change the time of day until the morning.
Jesus commanded His disciples to observe the New Testament Passover, not by slaying a lamb in Jerusalem, but by washing one another's feet (John 13:14) and partaking of unleavened bread and wine.
But few who profess Christianity keep it on the right day, at the right time, understanding the right meaning, and keeping it the right way--the way Jesus implemented it.
Greco-Roman Changes
What happened?
After the Bar Kochba revolt by the Jews, Roman Emperor Hadrian took various anti-Jewish steps.
Those in Jerusalem were not allowed to keep the Passover or other biblical days. There were various persecutions which drove people away from not only Judaism, but many original Christian practices that had ties to Judaism.
Scholars usually recognize the anti-Judaic motivation for the repudiation of the Jewish reckoning of Passover and adoption of Easter-Sunday instead. Joachim Jeremias attributes such a development to "the inclination to break away from Judaism." In a similar vein, J.B. Lightfoot explains that Rome and Alexandria adopted Easter-Sunday to avoid "even the semblance of Judaism" (Bacchiocchi S. God's Festival in Scripture and History. Biblical Perspectives. Befriend Springs (MI), 1995, pp. 101,102,103).
J.B. Lightfoot himself specifically wrote:
... the Churches of Asia Minor ... regulated their Easter festival by the Jewish Passover without regard to the day of the week, but…those of Rome and Alexandria and Gaul observed another rule; thus avoiding even the semblance of Judaism (Lightfoot, Joseph Barber. Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians: A Revised Text with Introduction, Notes and Dissertations. Published by Macmillan, 1881. Original from Harvard University. Digitized Oct 16, 2006, pp. 317, 331).
Note that some Roman Catholic sources amazingly claim that in the 2nd century, Roman Bishop Pius was the one that formally decreed the Easter/Passover Sunday idea:
Pope Pius I is given great credit in establishing customs and norms of the Church. He wrote a decree indicating that Easter should only be on a Sunday, despite whatever customs had been practiced so far. However, it was up to Pope Victor I, at the end of the century, to enforce the decree. (Booton McCoy D. Pope Saint Pius I. Catholic365.com 09/30/15 http://www.catholic365.com/article/2463/pope-saint-pius-i.html retrieved 03/21/19)
Saint Pius I was born in the State of Venice probably Aquileia. ... Several admirable decrees of his are still extant: in particular that which ordains that the Resurrection of Our Lord is always to be celebrated on a Sunday. ... He ordained by his supreme authority that, notwithstanding the contrary custom observed in certain places, the Feast of Easter should be celebrated on a Sunday throughout the entire Church. The importance of this measure and its effects upon the whole Church were emphasized during the reign of Pope St. Victor I, near the end of the same century; for it was he who enforced the decree of St. Pius.
The ancient Breviary lesson of St. Pius I made mention of the decree, attributed in the Corpus Juris to this holy Pope, concerning those who carelessly let fall any portion of the Precious Blood of Our Lord during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. (Saint Pius I, Pope, Martyr. https://reginamag.com/pope-saint-pius-i/ retrieved 03/21/19)
Pius 1 ... While he was bishop, his brother wrote a book in which he set forth the commandment which the angel of the Lord delivered to him, coming to him, in the garb of a shepherd and commanding him that the holy festival of Easter {Passover} be observed on the Lord's Day.1 ...
1. There is no mention of Easter {Passover} in the book of Hermas.
(The Book of the Popes Liber Pontificalis to the Pontificate of Gregory I. Translated by Louise Loomis. Reprint Evolution Publishing, 2006,, pp. 14-15)
Should Pius, if he were the one to have changed the date, changed it because his brother allegedly claimed an angel told him to?
No, not according to the Bible. The Apostle Paul wrote:
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-8)
Jesus' Passover date should not have been changed.
The historian Eusebius recorded that Polycrates of Ephesus, around 195 A.D. wrote the following to the Roman Bishop Victor who, as the previous writing showed, wanted those who professed Christ to change Passover from the 14th of Nisan to Sunday:
We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead ? All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said ‘ We ought to obey God rather than man’…I could mention the bishops who were present, whom I summoned at your desire; whose names, should I write them, would constitute a great multitude. And they, beholding my littleness, gave their consent to the letter, knowing that I did not bear my gray hairs in vain, but had always governed my life by the Lord Jesus (Eusebius. The History of the Church, Book 5, Chapter XXIV. Digireads.com, 2005, pp. 114-115).
Notice that Polycrates said that he and the other early church leaders (like the Apostles Philip and John, and their successors like Polycarp, Thraseas, Sagaris, Papirius, Melito) would not deviate from the Bible, and that they knew the Bible taught them to keep the Passover on the correct date, and not on a Sunday. Also notice that they always observed the day when the people put away the leaven. Polycrates also reminded the Roman bishop that true followers of Christ "obey God rather than men."
Since Passover was originally observed, when was Easter first celebrated by those who professed Christianity?
First, a change to Sunday happened in some areas in the second century.
Then, over time, instead of being a holy day in memorial to Christ's sacrifice, those who claimed to keep Passover on a Sunday, switched it to a resurrection holiday, commonly called Easter.
This is known by scholars:
The first Christians celebrated the death of Jesus with a Pascha meal (eucharist) on the lunar date of the Jewish Passover (note 1 Cor. 5:7-8).
At first there was no annual celebration of the resurrection. Eventually, in the gentile world, the day of resurrection was added to the Pascha festival. That day was Sunday. At the Council of Nicea (325) it was ruled that Easter Sunday would be celebrated on the Sunday immediately following that full moon which came after the vernal equinox. At the same time the Council decided that the vernal equinox would be March 21 in the Julian calendar (Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.18). (Synder GF. Irish Jesus, Roman Jesus: the formation of early Irish Christianity. Trinity Press International, 2002, p. 183)
So, for compromisers, the Passover changed. And it changed a lot. Because they held it on Sunday, some of the compromisers decided to teach that Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday as partial justification (in their view) for the change. But this resulted in major changes to the observance of Passover by those who held to the Greco-Roman position.
It was not until the 4th century that Sunday Passover became a resurrection holiday.
Those who think that the compromise was only small and should have been acceptable to God should remember that the Apostle Paul warned:
7 ...Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump (Galatians 5:7-9).
Paul was warning Christians that they should not allow a little compromise with the world (apparently including arguments of friends/acquaintances) should affect them. Paul and the early Christians kept Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.
They did not keep what we now know as Easter.
Let me add that in my view, those who actually keep the Days of Unleavened Bread are those who better understand Galatians 5:7-9.
In the third century, another who claimed to get messages from heaven was one known as Gregory the Great, or Gregory the Wonderworker.
Gregory of Nyssa wrote the following about him:
Gregory the Great ... (14) “He was schooled in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,” so also the Great One, coming through all the schooling of the Greeks ...
(27) Gregory ... (29) asked that he be given by God a manifestation of what is hidden. And he did not feel confident in preaching the word until the truth had been revealed to him in some visible way. For while he was concentrating during the night ... someone appeared in a vision, in human shape, elderly looking, very dignified in garb ... the latter calmed his distress of mind with a quiet voice and said that he had appeared to him by divine command on account of the matters about which he was uncertain, so that the truth of the orthodox faith might be disclosed ...
(95) he gave to peoples everywhere an increase of devotion toward the divine by decreeing festivals in honor of those who had borne up bravely for the faith. Taking up the bodies of the martyrs here and there, gathering together on the anniversary by the yearly cycle, they rejoiced as they kept festival in honor of the martyrs.
(96) And this too was a proof of his great wisdom, that in reeducating his whole generation to a new life at one time, while taking charge of nature like a sort of charioteer and harnessing them safely by the reins of the knowledge of God, he allowed his subjects to cavort a little in the yoke of faith through merriment. Since he understood that in bodily rejoicing the immaturity and lack of discipline of the multitude remained stuck in the error of idolatry, in order that first of all the main thing might then be achieved in them, namely, to look to God instead of to vain religious practices, he let them rejoice at the memories of the holy martyrs, and experience good emotions, and exult, so that when with the passage of time their life had been naturally transformed to what is more noble more and more strict, their faith would be directed to that end. This is already achieved, even in the multitude, as all feelings of gladness have been transferred from the pleasures of the body to the spiritual form of rejoicing.
(97) Building the church community in this fashion, and concerned to see everyone transferred from idols to the saving faith before his departure from this life, since he foreknew his own departure he zealously searched throughout the whole city and the area round about, wishing to learn if any still remained outside the faith.
(Gregory of Nyssa. ON THE LIFE AND WONDERS OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, GREGORY THE WONDERWORKER. As included in: Halton TP, et al, eds. THE FATHERS OF THЕ CHURCH ST. GREGORY THAUMATURGUS LIFE AND WORKS. Translated by Michael Slusser. THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS, 1998, p. 41, 47, 52-54, 83-84)
Christians are to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), yet, Gregory the Wonderworker said he would not do that. The "orthodox faith" had been disclosed to the Apostles in the Bible (cf. Jude 3), yet Gregory said a vision in the night taught it to him. Notice also that he implemented non-biblical holidays--the veneration of saints.
Furthermore note:
The veneration of claimed saints began to be a significant problem with the Greco-Roman churches in the fourth and later centuries, despite the fact it was not an apostolic practice. Notice the following: By incorporating familiar Pagan images, such as Celtic gods, the Green Man, and bicephalic heads within churches and cathedrals, church officials encouraged the populace to intermingle the two spiritual traditions in their mind supposedly easing their acceptance of the new religion and smoothing the transition from the old ways to the new. (Pesznecker S. Gargoyles: From the Archives of the Grey School of Wizardry. Career Press, 2006, p. 85)
Here is some of what Gregory the Wonderworker wrote himself, which shows a different non-biblical connection:
(35) But the praises and hymns to the universal king and guardian, the continual fountain of all good things, we shall transfer to one who even in this respect heals our weakness and who alone is able to make up our shortcomings, our souls’ champion and Savior, his first-begotten Word, the Demiurge and Pilot of all things. (Gregory the Wonderworker. ADDRESS OF THANKSGIVING TO ORIGEN. As included in: Halton TP, et al, eds. THE FATHERS OF THЕ CHURCH ST. GREGORY THAUMATURGUS LIFE AND WORKS. Translated by Michael Slusser. THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS, 1998, p. 96)
So, we see that Gregory combines Greek paganism with his religion (in Plato's philosophy, the Demiurge is a benevolent shaper acting on pre-existing matter).
He basically does the same when he wrote of Origen of Alexandria (the "he" below):
(170) So lest we go through the same unhappy experience as most do, he did not introduce us to one particular doctrine of the philosophers, nor allowed us to wander on our own, but he introduced us to all in his desire that there be no Greek doctrine with which we would be unacquainted.
(171) And he himself went in with us, going ahead and leading us by the hand as if on a hike, in case we met something crooked and deceptive and misleading. He was like an expert who, since from long involvement in arguments he is neither unfamiliar with nor unskilled in any of them, may himself stay safely on high ground, and by extending a hand to others might save them by pulling them out if they are in over their heads.
(172) He gathered and presented to us everything which was useful and true from each of the philosophers, (173) but excluded what was false, and for the rest especially people’s outlandish views on piety. (Ibid, p. 120)
So, Gregory claimed that Origen properly separated useful from non-useful Greek philosophy--yet his reliance on the ones he endorsed contributed him misunderstanding the true and original Christian faith.
Remember that, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).
The Orthodox View
The Greco-Roman Catholics decided that Gregory was a saint.
Roman Catholic Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote the following about him:
Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the very instruments and appendages of demon-worship to evangelical use, … the rulers of the Church from early times were prepared, should the occasion arise, to adopt, to imitate, or to sanctify the existing rites and customs of the population, as well as the philosophy of the educated class. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus supplies the first instance of this economy. … The bodies of the Martyrs were distributed in different places, and the people assembled and made merry, as the year came round, holding festival in their honour. This indeed was a proof of his great wisdom ... for, perceiving that the childish and untrained populace were retained in their idolatrous error by creature comforts, in order that what was of first importance should at any rate be secured to them, viz. that they should look to God in place of their vain rites, he allowed them to be merry, jovial, and gay at the monuments of the holy Martyrs, as if their behaviour would in time undergo a spontaneous change into greater seriousness and strictness, since faith would lead them to it; which has actually been the happy issue in that population, all carnal gratification having turned into a spiritual form of rejoicing." There is no reason to suppose that the licence here spoken of passed the limits of harmless though rude festivity; for it is observable that the same reason, the need of holydays for the multitude, is assigned by Origen, St. Gregory's master, to explain the establishment of the Lord's Day also, and the Paschal and the Pentecostal festivals, which have never been viewed as unlawful compliances; and, moreover, the people were in fact eventually reclaimed from their gross habits by his indulgent policy, a successful issue which could not have followed an accommodation to what was sinful. (Newman JH. An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. J. Toovey, 1845, p. 358).
So, Gregory is claimed to be one who made accomodation to pagans and this happened related to Sunday and Passover. And incorporating philosophies of the educated pagans is considered useful by leaders in the Church of Rome. This is despite the Apostle Paul warning:
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
No, incorporating philosophies of the educated pagans is not what Christians are to do, nor accept compromise with pagans, nor change the original faith. The Apostle Jude warned:
I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)
Jesus warned that the many would go the broad and wrong way (Matthew 7:13-14).
Despite what the Bible teaches, many decided to make the Roman/Greek Passover date change, with probably those in Alexandria the most supportive. Those in Asia Minor, other than those aligned with Gregory, mainly refused to switch Passover to Sunday.
Yet, even into the 4th century, there still were those, even amongst the Romans that wanted to observe Passover on the 14th of Nisan. This was distressing to Emperor Constantine and had this as an agenda item for the Council of Nicaea that he had convened in 325 A.D.:
... the emperor ... convened a council of 318 bishops ... in the city of Nicea ... They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people ... (Epiphanius. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III (Sects 47-80), De Fide). Section VI, Verses 1,1 and 1,3. Translated by Frank Williams. EJ Brill, New York, 1994, pp.471-472).
A Sunday date was selected, instead of Nisan 14 (which can fall on any day of the week). It could be said that Nicea formalized the predominant practice of the Greco-Roman Catholics.
As far as motivations go, according to Eusebius' Life of Constantine, Book III chapter 18, the Roman emperor Constantine declared:
Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Saviour a different way.
I do not recall Jesus indicating that Jews were detestable (He was a Jew: Luke 3:23-30; John 4:9-10) or that He changed the date of Passover. But apparently sungod-worshiping Constantine felt otherwise.
And that Sunday observance is now known as Easter. But an amazing historical fact is that, because sun-worshiping practices and the avoidance of practice that were considered to "Jewish," that is really why Easter is observed when it is.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
1170 At the Council of Nicea in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the vernal equinox (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 332).
Notice that the Roman Catholics CLAIM that Easter is supposed to be Passover--many people do not realize that. Further, however, it needs to be understood that Constantine's and his Council's declarations did not stop everyone from properly observing Passover (it also should be noted that "all the Churches" did not agree as no bishop from any the faithful churches attended this Council--for more details see article on Passover).
Furthermore, Constantine's comment about having nothing in common with the Jews is consistent with why another practice is associated with Easter:
Ham became popular among early Christians as part of their unifying tradition as some other religions do not eat pork or ham. (http://www.kitchendaily.com/read/easter-dinner-ideas-and-the-story-behind-traditional-easter-menu?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl35%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D289309 viewed 03/28/13)
The reality is that the compromisers who kept Easter-Sunday wanted to avoided possibly being considered Jewish or part of the faithful Christians so intentionally added eating ham as a direct insult. Yet, the Bible NEVER mentions eating ham as part of any biblical holiday and instead teaches that it should not be consumed (see The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats). Those who eat ham on Easter should ask themselves why they intentionally do something that Jesus and the apostles would not do.
Eating ham at that time was also a pagan practice.
Now, notice the following scriptures:
13 And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” 14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.”
16 So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
On Easter many worship towards the east.
But , why were women weeping for Tammuz? Tammuz was gored to death by a wild boar in a hunting accident. The forty days of "weeping for Tammuz" concluded by slaughtering a wild boar representing the one that killed Tammz, and eating ham on Easter Sunday. (Rood MJ. The Pagan-Christian Connection Exposed. Bridge Logos Foundation, 2008, p. 109)
Again, another pagan connection. The above author thinks that Emperor Constantine was behind the ham practice being adopted.
One historical item of potential support for that was the Constantine degreed the death penalty against Christians in Jerusalem if they would not eat pork (Bagatti, Bellarmino. Translated by Eugene Hoade. The Church from the Circumcision. Nihil obstat: Marcus Adinolfi, 13 Maii 1970. Imprimi potest: Herminius Roncari, 14 Junii 1970. Imprimatur: +Albertus Gori, die 26 Junii 1970. Franciscan Printing Press, Jerusalem, 1971, pp. 13-14).
Remember that, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).
Furthermore, Roman Catholic Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote following:
We are told in various ways by Eusebius, that Constantine, in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen, transferred into it the outward ornaments to which they had been accustomed in their own. It is not necessary to go into a subject which the diligence of Protestant writers has made familiar to most of us. The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison , are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church. (ibid, pp. 359-360.)
So, we see an admission here that those who went along with Emperor Constantine supported including heathen pagan practices to holy days.
This appeared to go on from the 4th century, and ultimately, that resulted in the adoption of the name of a pagan goddess being placed on what was supposed to be Passover.
A former Roman Catholic priest named Peter de Rosa wrote:
By the time Stephen III became pope, the church was thoroughly converted to the Roman Empire. From the Donation, it is plain that the Bishop of Rome looked like Constantine, lived like him, dressed liked him, (De Rosa, Peter. Vicars of Christ. Poolberg Press, Dublin, 2000, pp. 34,45).
Yes, by the middle of the 4th century, the Greco-Roman Catholic clergy adopted the dress of pagan priests. Though it does not mention paganism below, this is essentially acknowledged by The Catholic Encyclopedia:
The liturgical vestments have by no means remained the same from the founding of the Church until the present day. There is as great a difference between the vestments worn at the Holy Sacrifice in the pre-Constantinian period, ... The Christian vestments did not originate in the priestly dress of the Old Testament; they have, rather, developed from the secular dress of the Graeco-Roman world. ... the era before Constantine. In that period the priestly dress did not yet differ from the secular costume in form and ornament. The dress of daily life was worn at the offices of the Church. In times of peace and under normal conditions better garments were probably used...The second period embraces the time from about the fourth to the ninth century. It is the most important epoch in the history of liturgical vestments, the epoch in which not merely a priestly dress in a special sense was created, but one which at the same time determined the chief vestments of the present liturgical dress (Joseph Braun. Transcribed by Michael T. Barrett. Vestments. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV. Published 1912. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).
So, it is little wonder that other secular and pagan practices were allowed/encouraged for the lay people.
Because many did not accept the Sunday decree of his Council of Nicea, Emperor Constantine issued his Edict Against Heretics, which deprived some believers of their meeting places and personal property, if they did not go along with his pronouncements.
But even that did not stop everybody. Furthermore, a later Roman Emperor, named Theodosius, decreed the death penalty:
Edicts of Theodosius against the heretics, A.D. 380-394 ... Theodosius ... decreed that ... by the death of the offender; and the same capital punishment was inflicted on the Audians, or Quartodecimans, who should dare to perpetrate the atrocious crime of celebrating on an improper day the festival of Easter {Passover} (Gibbon E. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume III, Chapter XXVII. ca. 1776-1788).
Is killing those that followed the example of Jesus and John to observe the Passover on the biblical date of the 14th instead of Easter Sunday a sign of a true Christian leader or a sign of supporting antichrist?
Easter is Not a Biblical Nor Christian Term
In later centuries, particularly in northern Europe, additional cultural elements and terminology (e.g., “Easter”) became attached to the Sunday celebration, reflecting local adaptation rather than original apostolic practice.
Other than Teutonic languages like English and German, most other languages use some version of the word "Passover," like "pascha," to describe their observances.
Easter itself is not a Christian term but comes from paganism. The Roman Catholic English monk Bede ackonwledged that before late 7th/early 8th century the pagan title had been adopted:
The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v), relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring, which deity... Anglo-Saxon, eâster, eâstron; Old High German, ôstra, ôstrara, ôstrarûn; German, Ostern. April was called easter-monadh. (Holweck F. G. Transcribed by John Wagner and Michael T. Barrett. Easter. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V. Copyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight. Nihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York)
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. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old time observance. (Bede, originally c. 8th century. The Reckoning of Time. Liverpool University Press, 1999, p. 54)
Ostara (sometimes spelled Eostara or Eostre) is named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring. Her sacred symbols are eggs and hares. Not surprisingly, She's a Maiden Goddess rather than a Mother or a Crone. (O'Gaea, Ashleen. Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Samhain to Ostara: Lore, Rituals, Activities, and Symbols. Career Press, 2004, p. 149)
Let me add that there is solid archealogical evidence that there was the worship of Astarte, a similar female deity, in the British Isles by the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. And this apparently spread throughout the populace. Astarte was worshipped for perhaps a couple of thousands of years prior elsewhere, and her name is particularly associated with her worship in the ancient Levant among the Canaanites and Phoenicians as well as in Egypt. While scholars deny any linguistic similarities to Eostre, both were female deities that were associated with fertility or renewal.
Notice also:
The … fact that the word "Easter" is derived from the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess, called Eostre or Ostara, …
Though no attempt will be made here to describe in detail the gradual diffusion of Christian festivals and their substitution for prior pagan ones, a short comment on this aspect of Easter appears in order. A number of reputable scholars are agreed that the Christian church sought to supplant the festivals of the earlier pagan deities by substituting Christian festivals which often were similar in form. … motives of the same sort may have led the ecclesiastical authorities to assimilate the Easter festival of the death and resurrection of their Lord to the death and resurrection of another Asiatic god which fell at the same season. …
The use of eggs at Easter is generally believed to have diffused to Europe from the East and probably came from Persia through the Greek Christian Church. The egg was a symbol of the universe in the worship of Dionysius in Greece and many peoples regarded the egg as a symbol of life." Hence the association of the idea of life, spring and potential new life was easily made. When Christians borrowed the egg they made it symbolic of the resurrection of Christ. The practice of coloring eggs was followed by the ancient Hebrews and Persians. …
Easter, in both its religious and secular phases, expresses an age-old need of mankind periodically to assure itself against the fear of death and extinction. Pre-Christian spring festivals served this purpose, and at the same time expressed man's close relation to nature. The Christian message of the resurrection was substituted for pagan and folk festivals which celebrated the triumph of spring over winter, and, symbolically, of life over death. (Barnett J. THE EASTER FESTIVAL-A Study in Cultural Change. American Sociological Review,Vol. 14, No. 1 (Feb., 1949), pp. 62-70 )
Pagans liked the Spring festival and non-Church of God 'ecclesiastical authorities' compromised and attempted to claim pagan practices were fine if they could give a Christian connection. This goes against not only the Hebrew scriptures, but also the following warning from the Apostle Paul:
20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:20-21)
19 What does this mean? That the dedication of food to false gods amounts to anything? Or that false gods themselves amount to anything? 20 No, it does not; simply that when pagans sacrifice, what is sacrificed by them is sacrificed to demons who are not God. I do not want you to share with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons as well; you cannot have a share at the Lord's table and the demons' table as well. (1 Corinthians 10:19-21, NJB)
Yes, pagan practices are demonic. Christians were not to combine with pagan practices.
Remember that, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).
The old WCG published the following:
Moving forward in history to a time several centuries after the birth of Christ, we find the heathen populace of Europe still observing this annual spring festival to the goddess of dawn or spring. But now she was known by another, more general name — Eostre.
The name Sunna had merely been the localized German name, which was now changed to the more general name Eostre. Here is what happened.
During the previous centuries, vast numbers of people from Persia and Assyria had settled on the European mainland. These Eastern peoples were also worshipping a spring goddess. Their celebration likewise coincided with the beginning of spring. In fact, even colored eggs were associated with their spring festival. The ancient Persians, when they kept the festival of the solar new year in March, mutually presented each other with colored eggs.
The spring festival of these Eastern immigrants was identical to the festival the Germanic people celebrated. There was only one difference. The name of their goddess was ISHTAR. The Germans pronounced it slightly different, resulting in Eostre, ...
Thus the settlers from the East influenced the local population to alter the name of their goddess Sunna to that of Easter.
But it was still the same goddess. It was still the same festival on which they worshipped the goddess Sunna several centuries before. They still gathered wood on Saturday eve. They still had their huge bonfire that night. They still arose early the next morning for the sunrise service. And they still played games and looked for colored eggs on that day. It was still a highly popular festival. With the influx of these Eastern tribes, it became more generally celebrated than ever before.
Nothing had changed except the name of their goddess, now Eostre or, in more modern terminology, Easter. (Marx G. EASTER SUNRISE SERVICES BEFORE Jesus' Birth? Plain Truth, March-April 1972)
Eostre is connected to tbe Babylonian goddess Ishtar--also pronounced Easter:
ISHTAR was one of the most prominent of the deities of the Accadian and Assyrian Pantheon. Se was the Assyrian goddess of Love. She was the ... Ashtoreth of the Jews or Hebrews. She is the planetary Venus, and in general features corresponds with the classical goddess of Love. Her name Ishtar is that by which she was known in Assyria, and the same name prevailed, with slight modifications, among the Semite nations generally. In Babylonia the goddess was known as Nana ...
She may be identified with Eostre of the Germans, or Easter. To this goddess our Saxon or German ancestors sacrificed in April, which was therefore by them styled ... Eostur-monath, and from thence arose our word Easter, which the Saxons retained after their conversion to Christianity, so that our Easter-day is nothing more nor less than Ishtar's day ... The name became attached by association of ideas to the Christian festival of the Resurrection (of Christ), which happened at the time of the passover ... The English name Easter, and the German Ostern, are derived from the name of the Teutonic goddess Ostera (Anglo-Saxon Eostre), whose festival was celebrated by the ancient Saxons with peculiar solemnities in the month of April; and for which, as in many other instances, the first Romish missionaries substituted the paschal feast." The Council of Nice "ordained (A.D. 325) that it should be kept always on a Sunday." Thus we find that it was originally the festival of Ishtar, and occurred on the Sabatu of Elul, or the festival Sabbath of the Assyrians, which occurred in August or harvest time; and that it afterwards became united with the passover or paschal feast of the Jews, and finally adopted by the Christian Church as the Easter Sabbath, changing the date to the spring or seed time, or in April from the harvest month or August. Among the Assyrians it was the feast day of Ishtar and Nergal...
The Phoenician name of Ishtar was Astarte, the later Mendaean form of which was Ashtar. She was called Jeremiah, "the queen of heaven," Jer. vii, 18, and xliv. 17-25 ... she was sometimes called "the goddess of the chase," corresponding to Diana as well as Venus, the goddess of love. Mr. George Rawlinson says: "The worship of Ishtar was widespread, and her shrines were numerous. She is often called the "queen of Babylon" ... It may be suspected that her symbol was the naked female form ... (Hamilton LLC note. Ishtar and Izdubar, the epic of Babylon; or, The Babylonian goddess of love and the hero and warrior king, restored in mod. verse by L.L.C. Hamilton. 1884 Original from Oxford University Digitized Jun 19, 2007, pp. 207-208)
Paganism ... it was precisely in these cults that the worst perversions existed. Ishtar, Astarte, and Cybele had their male and female prostitutes, their Galli: Josiah had to cleanse the temple of Yahweh of their booths (cf. the Qedishim and Kelabim, Deuteronomy 23:17; 2 Samuel 23:7; cf. 1 Samuel 14:24; 15:12), and even in the Greek world, where prostitution was not else regarded as religious, Eryx and Corinth at least were contaminated by Semitic influence, which Greece could not correct. ( "Paganism." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Feb. 2014 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm>)
Ishtar is pronounced about the same as the English term Easter. Perhaps it should be mentioned that there was an Ishtar gate in ancient Babylon, hence there are a variety of connections between paganism/Babylon and Easter.
Some time back, a Roman Catholic writer posted something online to the effect that Ishtar was not Easter. Yet, not only could he not prove that, he neglected to consider the connections to another pagan goddess: Eostre.
Additionally, some “fact checkers,” make similar claims related to Ishtar and Easter (e.g. https://factcheck.afp.com/easter-not-derived-name-ancient-mesopotamian-goddess). Another source claimed that the connection is taught by "faux historians" (phoney ones). One even tried to claim the connection did not arise until in was in Alexander Hislop's 19th century book The Two Babylons, hinting that Hislop originated any type of pagan connection to Easter. Yet, that source and most other deniers I have run across failed to provide proof and also failed to cite the 8th century report from the Roman Catholic historian monk Bede who tied the name in with a pagan goddess--who was, or at least had similarities with, Ishtar. Many do not want people to understand that full truth about Easter.
That being said, some have stated that instead of Ishtar, ‘Easter’ was more directly-derived from the pagan-German goddess Eostre/Ostara--those are the names that Bede directly used. Eostre was the ‘bringer of light’ or the dawn, and is sometimes called ‘the queen of heaven.’ She was the goddess of the dawn. Her sacrifice was celebrated each Spring. This would tend to explain why people who keep Easter do so in the early morning as opposed to after sunset like the Passover was kept.
In Northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares and rabbits. The first scholar to make a connection between the goddess Eostre and hares was Adolf Holtzmann in his book Deutsche Mythologie. Holtzmann wrote of the tradition, “the Easter Hare is inexplicable to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara; just as there is a hare on the statue of Abnoba.” Citing folk Easter customs in Leicestershire, England where “the profits of the land called Harecrop Leys were applied to providing a meal which was thrown on the ground at the ‘Hare-pie Bank'”, late 19th-century scholar Charles Isaac Elton speculated on a connection between these customs and the worship of Ēostre. (Ēostre. Wikipedia, accessed 03/01/20
Here is something from the Smithsonian:
April 14, 2022
Easter is a celebration of spring and new life. Eggs and flowers are rather obvious symbols of female fertility, but in European traditions, the bunny, with its amazing reproductive potential, is not far behind. ...
Bede noted that in eighth-century England, the month of April was called Eosturmonath, or Eostre Month, after the goddess Eostre. He wrote that a pagan festival of spring in the name of the goddess had become assimilated into the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
While most European languages refer to the Christian holiday with names that come from the Jewish holiday of Passover, such as Pâques in French or Påsk in Swedish, German and English languages retain this older, non-biblical word: Easter.
Recent archaeological research appears to confirm the worship of Eostre in parts of England and Germany, with the hare as her main symbol. The Easter bunny therefore seems to recall these pre-Christian celebrations of spring, heralded by the vernal equinox and personified by the goddess Eostre. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ancient-origins-of-the-easter-bunny-180979915/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Whether of not the name originally came from a Babylonian goddess, a later German one, or some other source, ‘Easter’ is not a biblical term, Furthermore, there is no denying that aspects of both pagan goddesses are part of many Easter celebrations.
Folk customs associated with springtime continued in Germanic and Celtic regions during the 5th–7th centuries.
As Germanic tribes converted (Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Lombards), missionaries often overlaid Roman Catholic feasts onto existing seasonal festivals, including spring celebrations.
Consider that:
Pre-Christian Europe as early as the Iron Age (around 500 BCE) centered their celebrations of resurrection and rebirth around the spring: a time when the darkness and cold of winter gave way to the warmer temperatures and new beginnings of spring.
Ancient Germanic communities referred to their spring festival (dedicated to their goddess Eostre) as Ostara, which translates to “dawn” or “east.” The name connotes light and new beginnings, and the modern terms Easter (English) and Ostern (German) are thought to be derived from it. ...
Christian traditions arguably absorbed and reinterpreted many existing pagan customs. For example, the egg was once an emblem of fertility and became associated with Christ’s resurrection, symbolizing the tomb from which he rose. The hare, a sacred animal in rites honoring Eostre, evolved into the Easter Bunny, a figure that still carries connotations of abundance and renewal. ...
The Middle Ages saw Easter transform into a significant time of religious observance, marked by church services, fasting, and feasting. While some modern Easter customs like egg decorating emerged during this time, elaborate egg-painting traditions were also developing in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, in which red eggs symbolized Christ’s blood and resurrection. Easter Through History: From Ancient Rituals to Global Celebration. University of Texas Permian Basin. retrieved 03/26/26 https://online.utpb.edu/about-us/articles/humanities/easter-through-history/)
Basically, the adoption of Easter was the result of compromise with paganism. Some aspects of the adoption of its non-biblical symbols has been obscured, but some legends may cast some information about it.
Another writer who denied any Ishtar connection asked, even it it was true, why does that matter? Well, according to Jesus:
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24)
Furthermore, the Apostle Paul warned in 1 Corinthians 10:19-21 about combining demonic/pagan elements with Passover. Yet, that is precisedly what Easter does.
The old Worldwide and Radio Church of God claimed:
Believe it or not, Easter was being observed 4000 years ago! It was still being observed when the Christ-child was born — during His ministry — when He built His Church. YET CHRIST DID NOT INSTITUTE IT — CHRIST NEVER OBSERVED IT — THE APOSTLES NEVER OBSERVED IT — the Church JESUS BUILT NEVER OBSERVED IT.
EASTER was observed 4000 years ago among the pagans! But you can't find one word in the entire Bible that Jesus or the apostles ever observed it!
Where did you ever find in your Bible that Peter and Paul held Easter sunrise services? That the early Christian women in apostolic days dressed up for an Easter parade? That Christians baked hot cross buns? That the children of Christians dyed Easter eggs and ate chocolate Easter rabbits in honor of Christ's resurrection?
You NEVER found these practices taught by the inspired apostolic Church, did you? — yet these very customs were being celebrated in pagan lands long before apostolic days! (Hoeh H. Four Thousand Years of Easter. Tomorrow's World, March 1971)
Easter came from pagan sun-worship, not from Jesus Christ or the apostles. It is one of those Babylonian customs brought to Samaria after Israel's overthrow (721-718 B.C.) by the colonists from Babylonia. (Anon. Where is "Easter" mentioned in the Bible? Plain Truth, April 1964).
Certain modern practices associated with Easter are thousands of years old and do not come from the Bible.
The Greco-Roman Churches Made Up Holidays With Non-Biblical Connections
Consider that the Council of Tours (567) officially established Advent as a liturgical season. That Council noted that "every day is a festival" between Christmas Day on December 25 and Epiphany on January 6 (Hefele, Karl Joseph (1872). "A History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original Documents". Retrieved March 25, 2026). This may be the earliest acknowledgement of what came to be known as the twelve days of Christmas. That was NOT a season that the Bible lists (cf. Leviticus 23).
Furthermore, the first Synod of Macon (Matisconensis I.), which was summoned by the Frankish King Guntrum in the year 581, declared:
From Thursday in Holy Week to the Easter festival, in accordance with an ordinance of the late King Childebert, Jews may not show themselves on streets and public places ...
Christmas and Easter must be celebrated by each bishop in his own Church. (Ibid)
Note: the Latin from this synod has the word Pascha, not Easter.
The second Synod at Valence, in May or June 584, declared:
Of the six days’ feast of Easter (from Maundy Thursday to Easter Tuesday inclusive, all servile work is forbidden). 3. Cases of necessity excepted, no one must henceforth be baptized on any other day than on Easter Eve. 4. On all Sundays all the faithful, men and women, must offer bread and wine on the altar. (Ibid)
No, early Christians did not do that (further note: the Latin from this synod has the word Pascha, not Easter). Now, the actual Latin translated as 'Maundy Thursday' would most likely to have been Feria V in Cena Domini, which is translated as the 'Thursday of the Lord's Supper, is also of interest. That is supposed to be the time of the Passover, yet that is supposedly observed on Sunday as Passover.
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).
And people who will think and use proper logic should be able to see through all of this, yet such nonsense continues to be practiced and taught in many of the world's churches.
As far as pagan connections go, in the late 6th century, Pope Gregory I sent a letter to one called Abbot Mellitus which stated:
Tell Augustine that he should be no means destroy the temples of the gods but rather the idols within those temples. Let him, after he has purified them with holy water, place altars and relics of the saints in them. For, if those temples are well built, they should be converted from the worship of demons to the service of the true God. ... Let them therefore, on the day of the dedication of their churches, or on the feast of the martyrs whose relics are preserved in them, build themselves huts around their onetime temples and celebrate the occasion with religious feasting. They will sacrifice and eat the animals not any more as an offering to the devil, but for the glory of God to whom, as the giver of all things, they will give thanks for having been satiated. (Gregory I: Letter to Abbot Mellitus. Epsitola 76, PL 77: 1215-1216)
The use of relics is an ancient pagan practice. Pope Gregory advocated the incorporation on pagan practices. Yet, the Bible opposes this and these type of sacrifices as demonic (1 Corinthians 10:20-21). Furthermore, the Bible teaches that after the sacrifice of Jesus that there is no need for animal sacrifices (Hebrews 10:1-10). Allowing the above for ‘saints days’ shows that this is also relic of paganism and that they are truly demonic holidays. But this also demonstrates the tendency of the Church of Rome to move more away from biblical practices in the observance of holidays--which has been a factor in Easter being celebrated as it is today.
Notice something from the 9th century:
Pope Gregory IV in 835 made it the universal practice in the Roman Catholic Church to celebrate All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1 ...
Nov. 1st was the day of the Celtic Summer’s End feast of Samhain, the day when the dead returned to the earth. We have retained some of these pagan elements to Halloween, as is true of Christmas and Easter.
Why would a pope put the Catholic celebration of the dead on top of the pagans’ celebrations of the dead? Because the Catholic feasts are in continuity and fulfill the meaning of the pagan ones (Killian Brian. Halloween, as autumn celebration, reminder God’s name is hallowed. Catholic Online International News. 10/31/06. http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=21818).
The Church of Rome adopted many of the customs of pagan Spring celebrations, and considered the eggs as the emblem of the resurrection. Notice the prayer blessing of Pope Paul V, about 1610, on Easter eggs, which, in English, reads thus:
"Bless, O Lord! we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to thee on account of the resurrection of the Lord." (Easter Eggs. Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 5, T.B. Noonan, 1881. Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison Digitized Jul 10, 2009, p. 558)
But the Bible gives no such teachings about the use of eggs.
Here is one legend about the Easter egg and Easter:
According to ancient Babylonian legend, it is claimed that Ishtar caused the fish-goddess Atargatis to cause a great egg to fall in the Euphrates river where fish pushed it to shore and Semĩramis was miraculously born. The Easter egg - Ishtar egg - does not represent the stone rolled away from the tomb like the medieval church said it did...
The English word “Easter,” however, corresponding to the German Oster, reveals Christianity’s indebtedness to the Teutonic tribes of Central Europe. Christianity, when it reached the Teutons, incorporated in its celebration of the great Christian feast day many of the heathen rites and customs which accompanied their observance of the spring festival. That the festival of the resurrection occurred in the spring, that it celebrated the triumph of life over death, made it easy for the church to identify with this occasion the most joyous festival of the Teutons, held in honor of the death of winter, the birth of a new year and the return of the sun. (Deschesne D. Ishtar The Origin of the Easter Tradition. Fort Fairfield Journal ı April 12, 2006, p. 9)
Notice another view about Easter eggs:
According to Babylonian legend, a huge egg fell from heaven, landing in the Euphrates river. The goddess Ishtar broke out of this egg. Later the feature of "egg nesting" was introduced--a nest were the egg could be incubated until it hatched. A “wicker” or reed basket was used to nest the Ishtar egg (hence the Easter egg basket.)
The Easter egg hunt is based on the notion that if anyone found Ishtar's egg while she was being “reborn,”she would bestow a blessing upon that lucky person. Because this was a joyous Spring festival, eggs were colored in bright Spring (pastel) colors.
The Easter Bunny. Among the Celts, custom dictated that "the goddess" totem would lay eggs for the good children to eat...Eostre's hare was the shape that the Celts imagined on the surface of the full moon...
Since Ishtar or Eostre, was a goddess of fertility--and because rabbits procreate quickly--the rabbit became associated with the sexual act, and the egg became a symbol of "birth" and "renewal." (Chapman TL. God's Law of Love: The Perfect Law of Liberty Jehovah's Ten Commands Still Apply Today. iUniverse, 2010, p. 133)
As there are various legends (including the idea that Ishtar was reborn every Spring from an egg) and ideas, the reality is that the Easter egg has a non-Christian origin. Some have claimed that the Greco-Romans adopted the colored egg because some associated with them in Mesopotamia stained eggs red supposedly to symbolize Jesus' blood--but the Bible uses wine as a symbol of Christ's blood (Matthew 26:27-29; Luke 22:20), not colored eggs.
The Catholic Encyclopedia makes various claims and admissions about Easter:
The English term, according to the Ven. Bede (De temporum ratione, I, v), relates to Estre, a Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring ...
Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast (festum festorum), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter ... The connection between the Jewish and the Christian Pasch explains the movable character of this feast. Easter has no fixed date, like Christmas, because the 15th of Nisan of the Semitic calendar was shifting from date to date on the Julian calendar. Since Christ, the true Paschal Lamb, had been slain on the very day when the Jews, in celebration of their Passover, immolated the figurative lamb, the Jewish Christians in the Orient followed the Jewish method ... For this observance they claimed the authority of St. John and St. Philip.
In the rest of the empire another consideration predominated. Every Sunday of the year was a commemoration of the Resurrection of Christ... Because the Sunday after 14 Nisan was the historical day of the Resurrection, at Rome this Sunday became the Christian feast of Easter...
Easter eggs
... The symbolic meaning of a new creation of mankind by Jesus risen from the dead was probably an invention of later times. The custom may have its origin in paganism, for a great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring ...
The 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)...
Men and women
On Easter Monday the women had a right to strike their husbands, on Tuesday the men struck their wives ... In the Neumark (Germany) on Easter Day the men servants whip the maid servants with switches; on Monday the maids whip the men. They secure their release with Easter eggs. These customs are probably of pre-Christian origin (Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Das festliche Jahr, 118).
The Easter fire
The Easter Fire is lit on the top of mountains (Easter mountain, Osterberg) and must be kindled from new fire, drawn from wood by friction (nodfyr); this is a custom of pagan origin in vogue all over Europe, signifying the victory of spring over winter. The bishops issued severe edicts against the sacrilegious Easter fires (Conc. Germanicum, a. 742, c.v.; Council of Lestines, a. 743, n. 15), but did not succeed in abolishing them everywhere. The Church adopted the observance into the Easter ceremonies...
(Holweck F. G. Transcribed by John Wagner and Michael T. Barrett. Easter. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V. Copyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York).
Thus, the Romans admit that the name Easter is the name of a pagan goddess, many of its practices are of pagan origin, and that the churches in Asia Minor (which they call the Orient) continued to observe Passover on the date that the Jews did, Nisan 14.
Easter was not just a sunrise goddess:
Ishtar, she was both fertility and a war goddess. ... Easter or Astarte is in effect the same worship of an old Babylonian sex cult instituted by Semiramis the warrior queen who had a lust for blood (Kush H. Faces of the Hamitic People. Xlibris Corporation, 2010, p. 164)
Ishtar was seen as the personification of the planet Venus, and together with Shamash, the sun god, and Sin, the moon god, she formed an astral triad. (Littleton CS. Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology, Volume 6. Marshall Cavendish, 2005 p. 760)
So, Ishtar/Easter essentially was a warring sex/fertility goddess and her name suggests that lust (sexual and/or for membership) was behind much associated with Easter. The vast consumption of candy in most cultures associated with Easter suggests that perhaps lust is still a factor about the holiday today.
The Bible itself also condemns certain practices, now associated with Easter, such as hot Easter buns/cakes (Jeremiah 7:18), the worship towards the sun in the east (Ezekiel 8:15-18), and the worship of Astarte/Ishtar/Ashtaroth (other spellings of the word Easter).
Even Protestant commentaries note that:
Jeremiah 7 ... Cakes to the queen of heaven (v. 18). Probably a reference to the Babylonian fertility-goddess Ishtar, goddess of the planet Venus (from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press).
Jeremiah 7... What the sin is with which they are here charged-it is idolatry, v. 18. Their idolatrous respects are paid to the queen of heaven, the moon, either in an image or in the original, or both. They worshipped it probably under the name of Ashtaroth, or some other of their goddesses (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.).
Thus, both Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars acknowledge that Easter/Ishtar/Ashtaroth worship contains pagan elements.
Notice what the Encyclopedia Britannica stated in 1910:
There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers ... The first Christians continued to observe the Jewish festivals, though in a new spirit, as commemorations of events which those festivals had foreshadowed. Thus the Passover, with a new conception added to it of Christ as the true Paschal Lamb and the first fruits from the dead, continued to be observed (Easter. In: The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information Edition: 11 Published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1910 Item notes: v. 8 Original from Harvard University Digitized Jul 24, 2008, p. 828).
The biblical Passover has to do with the Lamb of God being killed for our sins--and early Christians kept that, not Easter.
Remember that, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).
The Easter festival is full of syncretism. It has combined many customs of heathen/pagan/demonic origin with the Christian faith. Hear what Paul warned about this type of practice:
19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:19-21)
(More on the above can be found in the article Marcus, the Marcosians, & Mithraism: Developers of the Eucharist?)
Easter, which is named after the pagan goddess Ishtar/Astarte/Eostre, has to do with a fertility festival involving rabbits and looking to the east in early morning as pagans did. Those who actually keep Passover can have a much better understanding of the plan of God than those who follow supposedly "Christianized" pagan holidays.
What Do Rabbits Have to Do With It?
Rabbits are highly involved with Easter celebrations. In the USA, people often buy bunnies for their children, which according to various news articles causes problems as many of the children are not actually capable and willing to actually take care of them.
But that is beside the point.
The point is that rabbits are not mentioned directly or indirectly in the New Testament. Since they are not mentioned, there is no way that they were intended by God to specifically be part of Christian celebrations.
As mentioned earlier, The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the "Easter Rabbit ... The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility."
The Easter Hare (Osterhase) as a bringer of eggs is first attested in southwest Germany in 1678, but its origins look to go much further back.
Here are more details about that from Roger Meyers:
Just where did the Easter Bunny come from?...
Unut was the Egyptian hare goddess (though she was originally depicted as a snake). Sculptures were discovered in the Men-Kau-Re Valley temple in Egypt which depicted King Men-Kau-Re (grandson of Khufu), the goddess Hathor (the celestial mother of the sun calf), and Hermopolite, or the hare nome, wearing the hare standard. Upper Egyptian nomes, or provinces, were usually represented in the form of a standard. There is an Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for the hare. The Egyptian word for hare was un which meant “to open” or “the opener.” The hare symbol may have been used for the word “to open” because a hare is born with its eyes open. The hare symbolized the opening of the new year and the beginning of new life in the spring at the vernal equinox.
The mythology of ancient people spread all over the world. The Saxon goddess Eostre is synonymous with the Phoenician goddess Astarte, goddess of the moon and the measurer of time. Associating the hare with the moon is thought to be related to the hare’s gestation period of one month, and to the hare’s nocturnal feeding. The association of rabbits and the moon can be found all over the world. In China, figures of hares are commonly found at Chinese moon festivals, where they represent fertility. The “hare in the moon” is far more prevalent than the “man in the moon.”
In ancient Anglo-Saxon myth, the goddess Eostre/Ostara/Astarte, etc., is associated with the spring and fertility, the moon, and also personifiies greeting the rising sun. To amuse children, Eostre changed her pet bird into a hare that layed brightly colored eggs which the goddess gave to the children. Saxons held the pagan festival for Eostra on the vernal equinox, the beginning of spring.
The Easter Bunny came to America in the 1700s by immigrants from Germany where it had been called “Osterhase” – Oster or Oschter being German for Easter (derived from Eostra, Ishtar, etc.), and hase being the German word for hare. (Meyers R. Easter Bunny or Eostre Hare. Commentary, April 19, 2011)
So, it should be clear that rabbits have to do with pagan traditions, not biblical ones. And, if we go back to the Old Testament, the only references to rabbits are that they are unclean and should not be eaten:
6 the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 7 and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you. (Leviticus 11:6-8, NKJV)
7 But of them that chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, you shall not eat, such as the camel, the hare, and the cherogril: because they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, they shall be unclean to you. 8 The swine also, because it divideth the hoof, but cheweth not the cud, shall be unclean, their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. (Deuteronomy 14:7-8, Douay-Rheims).
Notice that the only two passages from the Old Testament that mention hares (a type of rabbit) state that they are unclean and that there carcasses are not even to be touched (for more information on unclean animals and Christianity, please see The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats.). The exalting of rabbits on a day supposedly to celebrate Jesus makes no sense from a biblical perspective--it clearly came from pagan influence.
There is simply nothing in the Bible that hints that rabbits should be part of celebrations for those who wish to follow God.
More on Easter's Pagan Roots
Even secular sources are aware that Easter has many pagan practices:
The pagan roots of Easter
From Ishtar to Eostre, the roots of the resurrection story go deep. We should embrace the pagan symbolism of Easter
The Guardian, UK - April 3, 2010 by Heather McDougall
Easter is a pagan festival. If Easter isn't really about Jesus, then what is it about? Today, we see a secular culture celebrating the spring equinox, whilst religious culture celebrates the resurrection. However, early Christianity made a pragmatic acceptance of ancient pagan practises, most of which we enjoy today at Easter. The general symbolic story of the death of the son (sun) on a cross (the constellation of the Southern Cross) and his rebirth, overcoming the powers of darkness, was a well worn story in the ancient world. There were plenty of parallel, rival resurrected saviours too.
The Sumerian goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, was hung naked on a stake, and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld. One of the oldest resurrection myths is Egyptian Horus. Born on 25 December, Horus and his damaged eye became symbols of life and rebirth. Mithras was born on what we now call Christmas day, and his followers celebrated the spring equinox. Even as late as the 4th century AD, the sol invictus, associated with Mithras, was the last great pagan cult the church had to overcome. Dionysus was a divine child, resurrected by his grandmother. Dionysus also brought his mum, Semele, back to life.
In an ironic twist, the Cybele cult flourished on today's Vatican Hill. Cybele's lover Attis, was born of a virgin, died and was reborn annually. This spring festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, rising to a crescendo after three days, in rejoicing over the resurrection ...
What is interesting to note here is that in the ancient world, wherever you had popular resurrected god myths, Christianity found lots of converts. So, eventually Christianity came to an accommodation with the pagan Spring festival. Although we see no celebration of Easter in the New Testament,...today many churches are offering "sunrise services" at Easter – an obvious pagan solar celebration...
All the fun things about Easter are pagan. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre, a great northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. Exchange of eggs is an ancient custom, celebrated by many cultures. Hot cross buns are very ancient too. In the Old Testament we see the Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it. The early church clergy also tried to put a stop to sacred cakes being baked at Easter. In the end, in the face of defiant cake-baking pagan women, they gave up and blessed the cake instead. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/03/easter-pagan-symbolism
Though modern scholar do not like the Ishtar-Easter tie, they do accept pagan connections for much associated with Easter. Clearly, as the above indicates, Easter is pagan and items such as hot cross bun cakes where allowed as a result of compromise. Notice also the following related to the hot cross buns:
Traditionally served on Good Friday in England, hot cross buns have a long history that dates back to the ancient Egyptians and Grecians who decorated their buns with ox horns to represent protection and rebirth. (http://www.kitchendaily.com/read/easter-dinner-ideas-and-the-story-behind-traditional-easter-menu?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl35%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D289309 viewed 03/28/13)
Thousands of year ago, God inspired the Prophet Jeremiah to write:
18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. 19 Do they provoke Me to anger?" says the Lord. "Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?" (Jeremiah 7:18-19)
Some believe that the "cakes to the queen of heaven" (also known as Ishtar) that God condemned were the same, or at least similar to, modern hot cross buns:
The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now. The "buns," known too by that identical name, were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter, as early as the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens--that is, 1500 years before the Christian era. "One species of sacred bread," says Bryant, "which used to be offered to the gods, was of great antiquity, and called Boun." Diogenes Laertius, speaking of this offering being made by Empedocles, describes the chief ingredients of which it was composed, saying, "He offered one of the sacred cakes called Boun, which was made of fine flour and honey." The prophet Jeremiah takes notice of this kind of offering when he says, "The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven." *
* Jeremiah 7:18. It is from the very word here used by the prophet that the word "bun" seems to be derived. The Hebrew word, with the points, was pronounced Khavan, which in Greek became sometimes Kapan-os (PHOTIUS, Lexicon Syttoge); and, at other times, Khabon (NEANDER, in KITTO'S Biblical Cyclopoedia). The first shows how Khvan, pronounced as one syllable, would pass into the Latin panis, "bread," and the second how, in like manner, Khvon would become Bon or Bun. It is not to be overlooked that our common English word Loa has passed through a similar process of formation. In Anglo-Saxon it was Hlaf.The hot cross buns are not now offered, but eaten, on the festival of Astarte; but this leaves no doubt as to whence they have been derived. (Hislop A. The Two Babylons, pp. 107-108).
Those who make and eat hot cross buns on Easter should ask themselves why they intentionally do something like that.
Easter has many pagan trappings. It was been asserted:
The Saxons decorated eggs as offerings to the goddess Eostre, which is where modern Wiccans, Druids, and Christians acquired the custom. Ancient Druids also dyed eggs scarlet with furze (gorse) blossoms or madder root in honor of the sun. Hot cross buns, familiar at modern Christian Easter celebrations, are another ancient Pagan custom. The ancient Greeks decorated buns with a solar cross as offerings to the gods, as did the Saxons. Hot cross buns are often used in the cakes and wine ceremony in Wiccan Eostre celebrations. (Cuhulain K. Pagan Religions: A Handbook for Diversity Training. Marion Street Press, 2011)
Is Easter a Doctrine of Antichrist?
The Bible makes it clear that God’s people are to “keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time (Numbers 9:2b-3).
Early Christians, including the Apostles like John, observed that time. They did NOT believe that God changed the appointed time for Passover or that they had the authority to do so themselves. Passover was not observed on a Sunday morning.
The idea of Easter being on a Sunday by the Greco-Romans led to the acceptance of Sunday worship by most who professed Christ.
Consider that the only person in scripture to actually use the terms Antichrist or antichrists was the Apostle John.
John claimed to faithfully teach what Jesus taught:
This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true (John 21:24).
Regarding antichrists, call that John taught,
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us (1 John 2:18-19).
So what may have been the first specific departure from the practices of John that we have a historical record of (involving John's name)?
The changing of the date of Passover to a Sunday, which later was called Easter!
In the laste 2nd century, Roman Bishop Victor condemned the Christians in Asia Minor for holding to the practices of the Apostle John in this area.
Later, Constantine tried to force Easter Sunday on his empire. Pagan practices also in and were accepted by his followers. Yet, the opponents of Easter were not wiped out.
After making a political arrangement with a king in England, the Roman Pontiff Vitalin learned that those in the Celtic areas still observed the Biblical passover. Notice the following report:
Pope Vitalin ... supported efforts of the king of Northumbria, following the Synod of Whitby (664), to establish in England the Roman, as opposed to the Celtic, date for Easter (that is the Sunday after the Jewish Passover, rather than the Passover itself) and other Roman practices as well (McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI. Harper, San Francisco, 2005 updated ed., p. 109).
Notice that the above account (written by a Roman Catholic priest and scholar) acknowledges that Rome changed Passover in Britain from the biblical date (which apparently the Celts observed into the 7th century) to the Roman date and with Roman practices!
Since the Apostle John kept Passover, and warned that those who professed Christ and did not continue with him were antichrists, might not Easter be a doctrine of Antichrist.
Remember that, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).
Conclusion
Easter was a result of compromise with scripture and paganism, combined with fear of humans and antisemitism.
First, Passover was switched to Sunday out of fear and compromise.
Second, despite warnings NOT to change even if from an angel in heaven, changes claimed to come from angels and apparitions were used to justify changes as well as to compromise with paganism.
Third, in order to try to further justify this, the improper teaching that Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday began to flourish. But combining the two--Passover and the resurrection--was illogical and wrong.
Fourth, this then changed the meaning of the day to have more to do with a resurrection or Spring renewal than the practices of Passover. To insure acceptance, imperial edicts, including the death penalty, came out to enforce Easter-Sunday.
Fifth, compromise with pagan practices gained official acceptance by some emperors and Greco-Roman church leaders.
Sixth, because of these changes, it apparently did not seem too much of a stretch to the Greco-Romans to adopt the pagan name Easter and associated Spring-time fertility and other practices which stretched back to ancient Babylon.
Seventh, since this was done long ago, many do not realize that what is considered to be "the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year," by the Church of Rome, was not observed by original Christians.
Eighth, Easter did not come from the Bible. The Bible actually warns against incorporating pagan practices in with Passover as a doctrine of demons (1 Corinthians 10:19-21). Despite that, many modern scholars/news sources, etc. have attempted to blur the truth enough that most do not understand it.
Ninth, scholars realize that Easter was simply not observed by early Christians, nor those who felt that they needed to obey the God of the Bible rather than men.
Tenth, amazingly even though Easter is supposed to be Passover according to Greco-Roman Catholics and Protestants, it cannot (because of dating calculation rules that they use) be observed on the biblical date, it is not a memorial of Christ's death, and Easter as a type of a resurrection holiday has many pagan trappings. The fact that they claim to be the Lord's Supper--which is supposed to be Passover- is on a Thursday should show all that there is no way Passover is also on a Sunday.
Passover was not a resurrection holiday and never should have pagan fertility practices associated with it.
Despite many considering Easter as the most important Christian holiday, Easter is not a truly Christian holiday, nor one actually endorsed in the Bible.
Furthermore, Jesus was not even resurrected on a Sunday.
8 "These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" (Matthew 15:8-9)
Despite amazing facts, most who profess Christ follow traditions, instead of scripture, and observe Easter anyway.
Remember that, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).
While it is easy to see the compromise and corruption that ended up supposed changing Passover to Easter, do not overlook the spiritual leaven--sin--that you might tolerate in your own life.Most do not take the teachings from Jesus seriously enough.
Easter is one of those vain traditions. Easter is not a real Christian holiday.
Do not compromise with it.
Here is a link to a related sermon video: Amazing Facts About Easter.
Some other items of related interest may be
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays?
Is There "An Annual Worship Calendar" In the Bible?
Passover and the Early Church
Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread?
What Happened in the Crucifixion Week?
What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Christmas and the Holy Days?
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from Protestantism
Thiel, B. Ph.D. Eostre, Pagan Goddess, and Easter? Going from Passover to Easter? https://www.cogwriter.com/eostre.htm COGwriter (c) 2026 0327