Easter or Eostre?

Christmas and Easter. These are perhaps the two most popular holidays for the billions of Christians and Catholics around the world. Besides its importance in mainstream Christianity, there are other things these two holidays share. Neither one of them is biblical, or at least not the way people think they are. In fact, they’re both pagan traditions adopted into Christianity after the church became secularized around the third and fourth centuries and was no longer keeping the teachings of Christ.

So in light of the season, what’s the real celebration behind Easter?

Christians celebrate Easter as the Resurrection of Christ, though the Bible never says to replace the Resurrection with the Easter holiday. Despite what mainstream churches insist on teaching as truth, Easter has nothing to do with Christ. In fact, biblically, Resurrection Day is the Feast of Firstfruits.

Easter is named after Eostre, the goddess of the ancient Saxon people, involving fertility. She was called by different names by different people in different regions. To the Egyptians, she was known as Isis. The first mention of her appeared around 1430 B.C. in Egyptian records that called her a war goddess and was also a goddess of sexual love.

The Greeks later identified her with Aphrodite, their goddess of love. In Rome, she was known as Venus; in Phoenicia, she was Astarte and for the Hebrew people, she was known as Ashtoreth. And Ashtoreth (Easter) is in the Bible as the pagan religion that God condemns.

Judges 2:11 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord. They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them. Every time Israel went out to battle, the Lord fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress.

So how did this pagan tradition come into Christianity?
In 325, Roman Emperor Constantine and the Council of Nicea abolished the Passover feast of God, which had an appointed date and time. Constantine ruled that Easter be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox. Additionally, Easter would fall anytime between March 22nd and April 5th. Easter is a man-made feast that is not biblical and instead goes against the teachings of God.

So what about all the Easter symbols and traditions? All mainstream Christian churches have different kinds of traditions during Easter – again, none of which are biblical, but man-made.

The egg and the bunny
To Christians, the Easter egg is a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Really? Don’t think I’ve ever seen that in the Bible. Christians and Catholics have all kinds of symbolism for dying the eggs different colors, boiling them, etc. None of which are biblical! Then what is the point?

The Easter egg, just like Easter itself, is of pagan origin. In many ancient cultures, the egg was a symbol of new life, fertility and rebirth.

According to ancient pagan mythology, one day, a mystic egg of the Babylonians fell from Heaven on the River Euphrates. A fish pushed it ashore and the egg hatched. And out came Astarte – Easter. The egg became a symbol of Astarte or Easter – the pagan goddess of fertility.

Rabbits are an ancient symbol of fertility and new life and was adopted in the church as a symbol of Easter, a festival for asking for fertility.

Why should Christians celebrate Resurrection Day and NOT Easter?
Christ came to this earth to set the example for His people to follow. Jesus came as the Son to show us how to be sons of God. Then, why did He resurrect?

Luke 20:34 Jesus replied, “Marriage is for people here on earth. But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Those who are children of God and participate in the resurrection of Christ can have the hope to be resurrected on the last day.

We all have a choice. We can choose to follow mainstream Christianity, celebrate Easter and have the same fate as those described in the book of Judges. Or we can celebrate Resurrection Day as the Bible testifies, and participate in the resurrection of Christ and enter heaven, as described in Romans. It’s your choice.