Is is just about the EASTER BUNNY?

[prodromos]

In the West , Easter is all about fertility cult with eggs etc.

In all my years in the Anglican Church, it was only ever about Christ's death and resurrection. I never once saw rabbits or chocolate eggs in church during Easter. If you set up a poll on the forums I doubt you would find a single Christian in the West who thought differently.

 

[prodromos]

Here's a thought, start a thread asking if anyone associates rabbits and eggs with the Spring equinox, fertility rites or pagan gods/goddesses.

 

[Ken Rank]

The problem still stands, how can we be the salt and the light if we are not being the salt? If we are PC to our brothers and sisters in Christ how will they be lead to repentance? Easter is not biblical.

Let's do this, I go first and then you. I say that you will not find the word Easter before the Anglo-Saxons and that when the word was first used it was the word created to depict the resurrection. Having heard the gospel and not ever having had a man raised from the grave, they lacked a word for this concept so like Tyndale (who created "atonement" and "Passover") the Ango-Saxons simply created a word. They picked the word tied to "rising" which was east, because, the sun would rise in the east. They added the agent suffix "er" which turns a verb (east = rise) into a noun... in this case, "riser." The riser, the one who rose from the dead. You can see how the word easter in all of its forms was used HERE (page 174). You'll find that easterdaeg was the word for "Passover day." Easterfreolsdaeg was "The feast day of Passover" and more. Check it out... I just gave a valid and historically accurate account of how that word developed and supplied a dictionary for that language. Now it is your turn... forget Bede as he was a historian, NOT a linguist. He ASSUMED there was a connection because the two words SOUNDED alike. That is NOT good scholarship. If "sounds alike" is sufficient brother, then every German atheist calls on the Most High God every time he answers yes in his language. Why? Because the word for yes is Ja, which is pronounced "Yah." Just because two words sound similar do not mean they are related and Bede assumed, he did not KNOW and, again, he was a historian not a linguist. So, beyond just that one "witness" (and he isn't even a witness because he isn't an expect in that field).... show me a historical and "time period" connection.

Please understand, I am NOT in any way trying to cause division... I am actually trying to avoid it. If you can find me a time period connection than I have to accept it... but if you can't then you have to accept that what we are finding on the internet is not of God... but rather... attempts to place wedges between some of God's people whose eyes have been opened and some whose eyes have yet to be opened.

Many sources claim that Bede's interpretation of the origin of the name of easter is accurate.

Modern Hebrew Roots "teachers" who have not been taught ANY methodology, and who spend their days looking under rocks for pagans and anything they can nail the church with... cite Bede. Brother... one of the reasons we have such great division in the faith (all forms of it) is that we are not taught methods we are taught facts. No linguistics, no language, no historical analysis (finding time period evidence), no semiotics (study of symbols), no exegesis. Most Hebrew Roots people and almost ALL mainstream Christian wouldn't know a Rule of Hillel if it bit them in the rear. We learned facts in the church and then when we could repeat the facts well enough we became the next generation of "teachers" and the species perpetuated itself. Then >>GOD<< opened our eyes to a little depth... really, He probably just altered the lens we were looking through.... and we began to find deeper truth. Still no methods and what did we do? Did we go away like Paul did for 3 years? Did we walk with a rabbi 24/7/365 like the disciples did? No... two weeks into this new 'truth' we were warning our family and pastor about the evils of paganism and lies they were mired in. Well, these are the same people who are claiming Bede is accurate on a linguistic claim he said he ASSUMED. By the way, I bought his book to read the claim, that is what it says. He is not a credible source for the linguistic tie. AND.... even if he was, that is one witness, Torah calls for at least two. Give me the second one. If none exists then there is no case and it would be bearing false witness to keep making this claim.

It is plauseable that it did come from a pagan goddess and pagan people still worship in this way today yes with eggs and bunnies. The name originated out of the worship of creation not the Creator weather it is east, spring or some pagan goddess, the name has NOTHING to do with our Messiah and it did not come from Passover no matter how many linguistical gymnastics a person applies.

Source for REAL PAGANS (not Christians, people who openly serve a god other than YHWH) who use bunnies and eggs in their worship? I need the source brother.

Easter is NOTHING like Purim or Chanukah. The story of Purim is deeply phophectic and it tells of God delivering His people with the strength of a godly brave woman. Chanukah is a story of deliverance as well, a small army lead by Judas Maccabee where God works through them to deliver His people and His temple from the Heathens.

Neither Purim nor Hanukkah is a commanded day of convocation. The celebration of the resurrection of Yeshua is not a commanded convocation. Therefore, since Purim, Hanukkah, and Easter all center on miracles that God has done... and are observed by people who love the God of Israel and exalt Him for those various things that He has done on those days.... then they are very much alike. The eggs came out of an Eastern Orthodox practice that still exists. The bunnies came from a later date and are cultural. I condone neither, I would prefer to see both go away... BUT... if you have ever been to a church in Easter Sunday then you KNOW that no Christian is there to do ANYTHING but honor the Father for raising the Son. And I dare say that if you make the claim that they are there for any other reason, then you are bearing false witness because that is exactly why they are there.

Shabbat Shalom dear brother in Messiah

Thanks... we had a blessed time. We also met this evening (early) to gather for Purim and had an incredible time. The kids acted out the story, we had a brother share some thoughts from it making a great modern application and then we ate... and ate. Good times...

 

[Ken Rank]

Here's a thought, start a thread asking if anyone associates rabbits and eggs with the Spring equinox, fertility rites or pagan gods/goddesses.

There are claims in many books about eggs, bunnies, and pagan fertility festivals. But here is the truth, and I know it is the truth because I am part of a group of people who have been LOOKING for ANY evidence for YEARS now. The truth is... there is no "time period evidence" from those alleged pagan cults (which is what they were) that shows them rolling eggs downhill as some sign of honor to the fertility goddess. No time period sources exist at all. We are jumping about 6 cultures, 5 languages, and 3000 years to try to tie Ishtar to the Anglo-Saxons who were the first to use the word "Easter." It is anachronistic and in my opinion, lacking any scholarship.

 

[ChristianFromKazakhstan]

In all my years in the Anglican Church, it was only ever about Christ's death and resurrection. I never once saw rabbits or chocolate eggs in church during Easter. If you set up a poll on the forums I doubt you would find a single Christian in the West who thought differently.

I already explained above in this thread, that there is a distinction between good churches celebrating Jesus's resurrection (Amen!) and the world celebrating whatever with eggs etc.

 

[1John2:4]

Let's do this, I go first and then you. I say that you will not find the word Easter before the Anglo-Saxons and that when the word was first used it was the word created to depict the resurrection. Having heard the gospel and not ever having had a man raised from the grave, they lacked a word for this concept so like Tyndale (who created "atonement" and "Passover") the Ango-Saxons simply created a word. They picked the word tied to "rising" which was east, because, the sun would rise in the east. They added the agent suffix "er" which turns a verb (east = rise) into a noun... in this case, "riser." The riser, the one who rose from the dead. You can see how the word easter in all of its forms was used HERE (page 174). You'll find that easterdaeg was the word for "Passover day." Easterfreolsdaeg was "The feast day of Passover" and more. Check it out... I just gave a valid and historically accurate account of how that word developed and supplied a dictionary for that language. Now it is your turn... forget Bede as he was a historian, NOT a linguist. He ASSUMED there was a connection because the two words SOUNDED alike. That is NOT good scholarship. If "sounds alike" is sufficient brother, then every German atheist calls on the Most High God every time he answers yes in his language. Why? Because the word for yes is Ja, which is pronounced "Yah." Just because two words sound similar do not mean they are related and Bede assumed, he did not KNOW and, again, he was a historian not a linguist. So, beyond just that one "witness" (and he isn't even a witness because he isn't an expect in that field).... show me a historical and "time period" connection.

Please understand, I am NOT in any way trying to cause division... I am actually trying to avoid it. If you can find me a time period connection than I have to accept it... but if you can't then you have to accept that what we are finding on the internet is not of God... but rather... attempts to place wedges between some of God's people whose eyes have been opened and some whose eyes have yet to be opened.



Modern Hebrew Roots "teachers" who have not been taught ANY methodology, and who spend their days looking under rocks for pagans and anything they can nail the church with... cite Bede. Brother... one of the reasons we have such great division in the faith (all forms of it) is that we are not taught methods we are taught facts. No linguistics, no language, no historical analysis (finding time period evidence), no semiotics (study of symbols), no exegesis. Most Hebrew Roots people and almost ALL mainstream Christian wouldn't know a Rule of Hillel if it bit them in the rear. We learned facts in the church and then when we could repeat the facts well enough we became the next generation of "teachers" and the species perpetuated itself. Then >>GOD<< opened our eyes to a little depth... really, He probably just altered the lens we were looking through.... and we began to find deeper truth. Still no methods and what did we do? Did we go away like Paul did for 3 years? Did we walk with a rabbi 24/7/365 like the disciples did? No... two weeks into this new 'truth' we were warning our family and pastor about the evils of paganism and lies they were mired in. Well, these are the same people who are claiming Bede is accurate on a linguistic claim he said he ASSUMED. By the way, I bought his book to read the claim, that is what it says. He is not a credible source for the linguistic tie. AND.... even if he was, that is one witness, Torah calls for at least two. Give me the second one. If none exists then there is no case and it would be bearing false witness to keep making this claim.



Source for REAL PAGANS (not Christians, people who openly serve a god other than YHWH) who use bunnies and eggs in their worship? I need the source brother.



Neither Purim nor Hanukkah is a commanded day of convocation. The celebration of the resurrection of Yeshua is not a commanded convocation. Therefore, since Purim, Hanukkah, and Easter all center on miracles that God has done... and are observed by people who love the God of Israel and exalt Him for those various things that He has done on those days.... then they are very much alike. The eggs came out of an Eastern Orthodox practice that still exists. The bunnies came from a later date and are cultural. I condone neither, I would prefer to see both go away... BUT... if you have ever been to a church in Easter Sunday then you KNOW that no Christian is there to do ANYTHING but honor the Father for raising the Son. And I dare say that if you make the claim that they are there for any other reason, then you are bearing false witness because that is exactly why they are there.



Thanks... we had a blessed time. We also met this evening (early) to gather for Purim and had an incredible time. The kids acted out the story, we had a brother share some thoughts from it making a great modern application and then we ate... and ate. Good times...

You have obviously studied this more than I have, you are right I probably need to do more research to the linguistical names before making a broad brush statement.

Pagans today celebrating the equinox with bunnies and eggs I already listed several links in my first post but here are some more.
http://www.wilderutopia.com/traditions/spring-equinox-eostre-bunny-other-wiccan-mysteries/
Spring Goddess

About Purim and Chanukah, like I said they are NOTHING like easter which was birthed out of antisemitism. Is that untrue as well?

Do you keep easter? If not why?
Thanks again for your post.

 

[Ken Rank]

You have obviously studied this more than I have, you are right I probably need to do more research to the linguistical names before making a broad brush statement.

Pagans today celebrating the equinox with bunnies and eggs I already listed several links in my first post but here are some more.
http://www.wilderutopia.com/traditions/spring-equinox-eostre-bunny-other-wiccan-mysteries/
Spring Goddess

Thanks for the link, I will take a longer look tonight. At first glance I find no time period connections, just claims. Consider this..

"The name is thought to be derived from a goddess of German legend, according to Jacob Grimm in his Deutsche Mythologie. A similar goddess named Eostre was described by the Venerable Bede. Bede indicated that this name was used in English when the Paschal (Passover) holiday was introduced."

"Thought to be" is like me saying, "I think there is a connection." That isn't proof. I then underlined Jacob Grimm why? Because Grimm was a German philologist, jurist, and mythologist who died in 1865 (Civil War). That means that Grimm was born 1000 years after Easter became a word, again, not a time period source. I then underlined Bede for the same reason I did this morning, he was a historian not a linguist and his own work uses the word "assume." He didn't know, he was making an assumption based on his bias and limited understanding in that field.

Earlier in the article we find this: Eostre - the Germanic goddess of dawn and fertility, whose name gives us the word Easter.

I want to share something... the first time there is a known use of the word we now know as Germanic, was in 222BC. Historically this is early, especially if you are a young earther like I am. Ishtar, on the other hand, is much older. Ishtar was the Akkadian, Babylonian, and to a lesser degree, Assyrian, goddess of fertility, love, war, sex, and power. Her "reign" if you will, begins not long after Creation (so closer to 6000 years ago) and runs pretty much up through 1000 BC, or 3000 years ago. She is tied what we call the Middle East today. Eostre was the Germanic goddess of of dawn and fertility. NOT love, war, sex, and power... which means just on that ALONE these are not the same goddess. Throw in a difference of at around 1000 years and that Germanic tribes were north and west of what is now the Middle East, and we have a problem. We end up having to ignore a 1000 year difference in timing AND are connecting two entirely different cultures that are not only 1000 years apart, they are almost 2000 MILES apart at a time when people mainly walked to get where they were going.

About Purim and Chanukah, like I said they are NOTHING like easter which was birthed out of antisemitism. Is that untrue as well?

Where do you get that Easter was born out of anti-Semitism? You are looking at a word that was first tied to the resurrection and in later years was used to differentiate Passover from resurrection day. I am not even sure what you are talking about.

Do you keep easter? If not why?

I want to be clear... bunnies and eggs have no place in the day. However, the day itself as you most likely know, is the day that Yeshua's resurrection is celebrated. That isn't pagan and we need to stop ascribing an evil motive to brothers and sisters who are not in any way trying to tie anything to pagan gods. Yeshua's resurrection was tied by Paul (rightly) to firstfruits.... and therefore, any celebration of his resurrection is tied to the celebration of firstfruits whether the one doing it realizes that or not.

As an aside... here is an interesting entry in one of my favorite websites. Notice how the tie of the words is to meaning (i.e. direction, light, dawn, etc.) and not practice. But notice that they too cite Bede (sadly) a guy I have NO ISSUE WITH but who is simply not an expert in the field that people are using him for. Also with this entry, notice the timing of the bunnies and easter. Not an ancient thing, a modern cultural one. That doesn't make it acceptable, but it removes our ability to cry PAGAN! which we do entirely too much of. We use the word pagan, cult, and heretic as soon as run across something that doesn't line up with our understanding. Sometimes things are pagan... but I will tell you this... petitioning God with a wish list like He is our genie waiting to get His belly rubbed so that He can do our bidding, is FAR MORE pagan than a Christian who goes to church to give thanks to the God of Israel for raising His son from the grave! Online Etymology Dictionary

 

[SAAN]

For those that keep saying eggs are not art of it, this Easter just drive around and see how many churches are doing Easter egg hunts and even on the day of Easter before church as well.

While the adults say its for the kids and the kids are just finding candy, cant there be a more creative way to tell them about Jesus than tricking them former pagan symbols. Nobody has stopped and asked, where does this TRULY come from. Most answers on here are ones provided from RCC websites, but never stop to ask, why at that point and time did they decide to start using those symbols and ignore the fact that ALOT of pagan symbols and practices were merged into early Christianity.

In America, we dont just celebrate MLK Day, or July 4th, etc out the blue for no reason, it is because something in the past happened why we do it and there is a meaning to them. The same can be said in the bible, they do Passover and other Feast Days and can tie it to something. On the man made holidays, the customs had to have come from somewhere previously, as to out the blue why a Egg Laying Rabbit would be part of the season to remember Jesus or why in the world are you eating a Ham to remember a Hebrew Messiah...where did these customs originate why they started using them. Folks ignore how sick the greek culture was at times and how it changed the Hebrew aspect of the bible.

So while the resurrection celebration is a miracle that can be put up there with Purim, Hanukah, etc, NONE of the biblical Days have a secular or worldly aspect to them. Take Jesus out of Easter and the world still has it Easter Bunny, Egg Hunts, and Honey Baked Ham...take God out of any biblical days and you have nothing.

So while many on here have claimed to have done research, dont forget many online sources have done equal or more research on history as well, as to their findings.

 

[Ken Rank]

For those that keep saying eggs are not art of it, this Easter just drive around and see how many churches are doing Easter egg hunts and even on the day of Easter before church as well.

That does not make those who take part in them pagan. A pagan, BY CHOICE, serves a PAGAN GOD, and no Christian alive has any intent on paying homage to a false deity... they love the God of Israel and their intent is to serve Him. The egg hunts TO THEM are nothing but a cultural thing you do, like shooting off fireworks or watching a Founders Day parade. To then ascribe an evil intent, like serving other gods through pagan acts... is a sin because it is bearing false witness against another and not just another, a brother who came in faith to the same one Messiah. Do they lack some information and are they missing out on the blessings found in the Feasts? I think so... but why spend the time demeaning them which is what the Hebrew Roots Movement does. Why not just WAIT patiently until God draws them, and then teach?

So while many on here have claimed to have done research, dont forget many online sources have done equal or more research on history as well, as to their findings.

I am nobody... but I do know this much... we teach historical analysis and etymology. The vast majority of claims about Easter have no historical "time period" evidence at all, which means.. if there were Elders at the gates and you wanted to bring a dispute to them about this... it would be dismissed because there is no evidence from the time period being claimed. "Ishtar followers rolled eggs down hills in honor of the fertility goddess." Great story... the only problem is... the time period writings that speak of Ishtar do NOT speak of that practice. That matters, and the "scholars" on the internet that are making the claims are not approaching this in a scholarly manner.

For crying out loud SAAN, how many in our circles claim Constantine ushered in Ishtar worship? Where does that come from? It comes from "scholars" who claim the word Easter comes from Ishtar and Constantine wrote that letter on the Keeping of Easter! The problem is, that letter doesn't have the word Easter in it, it has the word pascha in it... Passover. AND.... his desire for the church to develop its own method of reckoning time didn't even happen until after he was DEAD. So... all that is garbage! "Well, what about Constantine changing the Sabbath to SUNday?" More crap... Sunday observance had been the majority practice of Christians for well over 150 years BEFORE Constantine even began his reign... all he did was pass a decree based on something that was long accepted in that society. Was it right? OF COURSE NOT..... but he didn't change anything, that was already the practice.

My point... I just shared a couple additional things found on the internet by people who have supposedly done their research that is false. There is more... want to talk about the "Constantine Creed?" I can show you in 3 sentences how he couldn't possibly have written it... but that isn't stopping online "scholars" from sharing their "research."

Why don't we spend more time sharing the blessings of the Feasts and less time trying to align Christians who haven't been blessed to see what we see YET... to things they know nothing about. Like any Christian even knows who Ishtar is!

 

[1John2:4]

Thanks for the link, I will take a longer look tonight. At first glance I find no time period connections, just claims. Consider this..

"The name is thought to be derived from a goddess of German legend, according to Jacob Grimm in his Deutsche Mythologie. A similar goddess named Eostre was described by the Venerable Bede. Bede indicated that this name was used in English when the Paschal (Passover) holiday was introduced."

"Thought to be" is like me saying, "I think there is a connection." That isn't proof. I then underlined Jacob Grimm why? Because Grimm was a German philologist, jurist, and mythologist who died in 1865 (Civil War). That means that Grimm was born 1000 years after Easter became a word, again, not a time period source. I then underlined Bede for the same reason I did this morning, he was a historian not a linguist and his own work uses the word "assume." He didn't know, he was making an assumption based on his bias and limited understanding in that field.

Earlier in the article we find this: Eostre - the Germanic goddess of dawn and fertility, whose name gives us the word Easter.

I want to share something... the first time there is a known use of the word we now know as Germanic, was in 222BC. Historically this is early, especially if you are a young earther like I am. Ishtar, on the other hand, is much older. Ishtar was the Akkadian, Babylonian, and to a lesser degree, Assyrian, goddess of fertility, love, war, sex, and power. Her "reign" if you will, begins not long after Creation (so closer to 6000 years ago) and runs pretty much up through 1000 BC, or 3000 years ago. She is tied what we call the Middle East today. Eostre was the Germanic goddess of of dawn and fertility. NOT love, war, sex, and power... which means just on that ALONE these are not the same goddess. Throw in a difference of at around 1000 years and that Germanic tribes were north and west of what is now the Middle East, and we have a problem. We end up having to ignore a 1000 year difference in timing AND are connecting two entirely different cultures that are not only 1000 years apart, they are almost 2000 MILES apart at a time when people mainly walked to get where they were going.



Where do you get that Easter was born out of anti-Semitism? You are looking at a word that was first tied to the resurrection and in later years was used to differentiate Passover from resurrection day. I am not even sure what you are talking about.



I want to be clear... bunnies and eggs have no place in the day. However, the day itself as you most likely know, is the day that Yeshua's resurrection is celebrated. That isn't pagan and we need to stop ascribing an evil motive to brothers and sisters who are not in any way trying to tie anything to pagan gods. Yeshua's resurrection was tied by Paul (rightly) to firstfruits.... and therefore, any celebration of his resurrection is tied to the celebration of firstfruits whether the one doing it realizes that or not.

As an aside... here is an interesting entry in one of my favorite websites. Notice how the tie of the words is to meaning (i.e. direction, light, dawn, etc.) and not practice. But notice that they too cite Bede (sadly) a guy I have NO ISSUE WITH but who is simply not an expert in the field that people are using him for. Also with this entry, notice the timing of the bunnies and easter. Not an ancient thing, a modern cultural one. That doesn't make it acceptable, but it removes our ability to cry PAGAN! which we do entirely too much of. We use the word pagan, cult, and heretic as soon as run across something that doesn't line up with our understanding. Sometimes things are pagan... but I will tell you this... petitioning God with a wish list like He is our genie waiting to get His belly rubbed so that He can do our bidding, is FAR MORE pagan than a Christian who goes to church to give thanks to the God of Israel for raising His son from the grave! Online Etymology Dictionary

Ken- I have to say you have really made me dig into this claim, and you are right if it is only based on Bede then how is it credable? It seams everything goes back to Bede's account I even looked at folklore and am still only running across this one account. So I guess until I find another whiteness I will have to come to terms with my claim may not hold truth.

Thank you for helping me not to spread error. I will discontinue this claim until I find another whiteness

Very happy you had a wonderful Purim!!

 

[ToBeLoved]

In all my years in the Anglican Church, it was only ever about Christ's death and resurrection. I never once saw rabbits or chocolate eggs in church during Easter. If you set up a poll on the forums I doubt you would find a single Christian in the West who thought differently.

I think he thinks he knows.

But doesn't.

 

[ViaCrucis]

For those that keep saying eggs are not art of it, this Easter just drive around and see how many churches are doing Easter egg hunts and even on the day of Easter before church as well.

Easter egg hunts were an activity invented, intentionally, by Christians; it is generally attributed to Martin Luther and among German Protestants from which it spread elsewhere. Why? Because the egg had already been a longstanding symbol of Christ's tomb, hiding eggs for women and children to find was a way of illustrating the joy of the women coming upon the empty tomb.

But let me guess, the ancient Babylonians hid eggs in honor of Ishtar and claimed a chocolate rabbit hid them. Something like that, yes?

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Jipsah]

Easter has nothing to do with Jesus

Whose resurrection do you think we're celebrating?

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

It would be good to find out what how the Early Church celebrated what we now know as Easter. I think what I will do is to put my cup of instant coffee in my microwave and see if I can go back in time to find out.

 

[Jipsah]

Pig on Easter goes back to Babylon

<ROFL> Except that the Babylonians had never heard of Easter, and almost certainly had no special observances of anything scheduled on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox. (Or did they...? Bwahahaha!)

As for the eating of hogs, which seems to offend you so much, remember: "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." Kinda being too "holy" by half, looks like. And unless you're keeping the rest of the Law, abstaining from pork is meaningless. So you can kind of give that a rest if you want to.

you worship Tammuz more than you do Jesus.

Must be pretty doggone easy to worship ol' Tammuz, then. You don't even have to have ever heard of the old boy or think he existed. All that's necessary is to worship our Lord Christ on a day that your lot objects to. Come to think of it, appears like your bunch are the only people who still care enough about poor old nonexistent long-forgotten Tammuz to bring his name up to accuse those
who would have otherwise never heard of him or cared anything about him of worshipping him. Might as well accuse us of worshipping Kek. <Laugh>

Early Christians met on Sundays because Christianity and Judaism split apart and Christianity decided to do its own thing despite what God commands, that is why they thought their new day was the will of God back then, and they just passed down since.

Yeah, the Jews had the rights of it, just keep on being Jews and nevermind that God Himself had intervened directly in human history to bring salvation to all of humanity. The early Christians just Didn't Get It, did they?

BTW, what do you reckon the Council of Jerusalem was all about, and why do you reckon it concluded as it did? Or is that yet another of those "what that really means..." deals?

 

[ChristianFromKazakhstan]

Whose resurrection do you think we're celebrating?

As I explained already in this thread, I was referring to the traditions of Easter that are not based on the Bible. Like bunnies, eggs etc

 

[Jipsah]

Since the ancient Babylonians didn't celebrate Easter, since Babylonia had been gone for hundreds of years before Christ, that's quite impossible.

"It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right..." But if it takes a time warp to support their made up history, hey, they do what they gotta do.

 

[Ken Rank]

Ken- I have to say you have really made me dig into this claim, and you are right if it is only based on Bede then how is it credable? It seams everything goes back to Bede's account I even looked at folklore and am still only running across this one account. So I guess until I find another whiteness I will have to come to terms with my claim may not hold truth.

Thank you for helping me not to spread error. I will discontinue this claim until I find another whiteness

Very happy you had a wonderful Purim!!

We did, thank you. As for what you wrote... so refreshing to find another brother who isn't so dogmatic that he can't wait on the Lord to reveal a truth. Around 15 years ago or so, I wrote an article that called Easter.. Beaster. I recited the same claims we all make, but I was blessed with a teacher that wasn't so concerned with making sure we were clones in respect to facts, he was more concerned that those who learned from him learned methodology. It is the "teach a guy to fish" scenario. Give me a deep fact and you will have probably given me the ability to make a connection. Teach me how to find the facts and every time I open the book I will make a connection. With Easter, it all runs through Bede, and though I am sure a nice guy... he made a comment that has taken on a life of its own. He might be correct, but seeing he wasn't a linguist AND.... since he wasn't born until 674AD and his Ecclesiastical History wasn't written until 731AD, even he is at least 100 years after the word Easter was in use. So it isn't like he was there when it happened, it would be like you and I today reporting on something that happened at the end of World War 1. We would have to get the information 2nd hand... maybe even 3rd since I am not sure any of those soldiers are still alive.

Blessings.
Ken

 

[Ken Rank]

It would be good to find out what how the Early Church celebrated what we now know as Easter. I think what I will do is to put my cup of instant coffee in my microwave and see if I can go back in time to find out.

I can prove this all historically but I only have a moment this morning so I will give a highlight and if you want sources I can give them tonight.

The very early church continued to keep what you probably call the "Jewish feasts." I don't.... but that isn't important. Resurrection day itself, the Sunday after Passover, was set apart by "some" Hellenistic Jews (Greek speaking and influenced) but the vast majority continued to keep the Feasts and the Sunday after Passover is already set apart as the day one would begin their count of Sabbaths to Shavuot (Pentecost). It seems that as each year passed more and more Christians were setting aside Sunday as the day of observance and Easter Sunday as a special day to set apart... but not until after the destruction of the Temple (70AD) and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-134AD) did things really change. By 150AD, the "visible face" of Christianity was no longer Jewish but Greek and Sunday observance and the setting aside of the Sunday after Passover was now a majority thing. By the time you get to Constantine, he isn't making a decree to change the Sabbath, he was making law what was the practice of all non-Jewish Christians who by now are a very small minority. What we now call Easter Sunday was called Pascha (Passover) by the Christians. This can be proven historically very easily, it is even proven in Scripture. You can go to Acts 12:4 and see the word "Easter" where the Greek says Pascha. Tyndale was the first to translate pascha in that verse as Easter, whereas in other places he translated it as a word he created, "Passover." The reason for the change in Acts 12:4 is he was trying to differentiate between the pesach (sacrificial lamb and first day of Unleavened Bread) and the day of resurrection. By the way, even Constantine's "Letter on the keeping of Easter" is only translated as 'Easter' to show he was speaking about resurrection day, yet, he used the Greek word for Passover in his letter, Pascha.

 

[ToBeLoved]

I can prove this all historically but I only have a moment this morning so I will give a highlight and if you want sources I can give them tonight.

The very early church continued to keep what you probably call the "Jewish feasts." I don't.... but that isn't important. Resurrection day itself, the Sunday after Passover, was set apart by "some" Hellenistic Jews (Greek speaking and influenced) but the vast majority continued to keep the Feasts and the Sunday after Passover is already set apart as the day one would begin their count of Sabbaths to Shavuot (Pentecost). It seems that as each year passed more and more Christians were setting aside Sunday as the day of observance and Easter Sunday as a special day to set apart... but not until after the destruction of the Temple (70AD) and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-134AD) did things really change. By 150AD, the "visible face" of Christianity was no longer Jewish but Greek and Sunday observance and the setting aside of the Sunday after Passover was now a majority thing. By the time you get to Constantine, he isn't making a decree to change the Sabbath, he was making law what was the practice of all non-Jewish Christians who by now are a very small minority. What we now call Easter Sunday was called Pascha (Passover) by the Christians. This can be proven historically very easily, it is even proven in Scripture. You can go to Acts 12:4 and see the word "Easter" where the Greek says Pascha. Tyndale was the first to translate pascha in that verse as Easter, whereas in other places he translated it as a word he created, "Passover." The reason for the change in Acts 12:4 is he was trying to differentiate between the pesach (sacrificial lamb and first day of Unleavened Bread) and the day of resurrection. By the way, even Constantine's "Letter on the keeping of Easter" is only translated as 'Easter' to show he was speaking about resurrection day, yet, he used the Greek word for Passover in his letter, Pascha.

Very interesting.