Is is just about the EASTER BUNNY?

[Solomons Porch]

If you have access to the internet, there is NO EXCUSE for thinking Easter eggs and bunnies make Easter pagan, or that Easter comes from a pagan holiday. The same goes for anyone with a decent education or even experience in the world.

It baffles my mind how people can be so short sighted. Anglo-Saxon cultures celebrate Easter with eggs and bunnies. There rest of the world does not. Therefore, to suggest or imply, as people sometimes do, that Easter was a pagan holiday "rebadged" or remade show a profound ignorance.

Easter was being celebrated by Christians long before the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity. When Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity, they celebrated Easter in their own cultural way, which included eggs and bunnies. It is amazing that people think how we celebrate a holiday must be how the rest of the world celebrates in and indeed, how it has always been celebrated. The worst part is, even after reading this post, I seriously doubt you and others even "get it."

Theres really no reason to be so rude, alrighty?

 

[Greyy]

Guys, take CryptoLutherans post here... compare it to mine above... where each of us mention something the other doesn't, fill in the blank and between the two the history is pretty well covered. There is >>NOTHING<< pagan about Easter. And the proof doesn't even have to be in the history, or the etymology.... just go to a church on Easter Sunday and watched and listen. WHO are they exalting? What are they giving thanks for? God and the risen Son, or Ishtar and fertility? This "lie" is perpetrated by the Adversary and we cannot allow it to divide us.

It's amazing how foolish people can make themselves look. I have heard such exaggerated lies to the point of Easter hams come from Babylonian paganism, or that Christmas cookies have a long pagan history going back to the ancient Middle East.

All you can do is just stare at person and then ask - you do understand, those are just the way WE celebrate the holiday, right? It does not occur to them that there are other cultures out there, with the same holidays, and with their own customs and traditions.

If you were to go to Uruguay and tell the people Easter is pagan because of hams, Ishtar, and other such nonsense, they would have no idea what in the heck you were talking about.

 

[Ken Rank]

It's amazing how foolish people can make themselves look. I have heard such exaggerated lies to the point of Easter hams come from Babylonian paganism, or that Christmas cookies have a long pagan history going back to the ancient Middle East.

All you can do is just stare at person and then ask - you do understand, those are just the way WE celebrate the holiday, right? It does not occur to them that there are other cultures out there, with the same holidays, and with their own customs and traditions.

If you were to go to Uruguay and tell the people Easter is pagan because of hams, Ishtar, and other such nonsense, they would have no idea what in the heck you were talking about.

That's what is really interesting, we only have this Ishtar/Easter issue in English. Pretty much the rest of the world calls it Pascha or something similar. But you're right, all we can do is stand there and stare at them because those that believe this can't seem to hear.

The issue really ends here, but we are too fickle to accept such an answer. Even if there was a connection to Easter (which there is not)... a word is merely a symbol meant to convey a concept and symbols are defined by the culture and time they are in use. 100 years ago if I had said to you, "Last night I had gay intercourse," you would have known, without thinking anything else, that I had engaged in a fun and happy discussion. My point being, if Easter is used to speak about resurrection day today, and our culture accepts that definition, then that is what it means. Of course, that is what it ALWAYS meant but I digress.....

Blessings.
Ken

 

[SAAN]

If you have access to the internet, there is NO EXCUSE for thinking Easter eggs and bunnies make Easter pagan, or that Easter comes from a pagan holiday. The same goes for anyone with a decent education or even experience in the world.

It baffles my mind how people can be so short sighted. Anglo-Saxon cultures celebrate Easter with eggs and bunnies. There rest of the world does not. Therefore, to suggest or imply, as people sometimes do, that Easter was a pagan holiday "rebadged" or remade show a profound ignorance.

Easter was being celebrated by Christians long before the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity. When Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity, they celebrated Easter in their own cultural way, which included eggs and bunnies. It is amazing that people think how we celebrate a holiday must be how the rest of the world celebrates in and indeed, how it has always been celebrated. The worst part is, even after reading this post, I seriously doubt you and others even "get it."

There was NO SUCH THING AS EASTER in the days of Jesus and the Apostles, it is a man made Catholic holiday that has been passed down. In the bible they kept Passover and Unleavened Bread. Jesus died on Passover and Rose on First Fruit, NOT Good Friday and Rose Easter Sunday Morning

This still goes back to, stop and question why a bunny, egg, and hot cross buns are part of your remembrance of Jesus death, and it should make you ask why am I doing this and where did it really come from. The fact alone of a egg laying rabbit should throw up all sort of flags.

If you are true and honest with your self, and do honest research that actually dates back to before 300AD, you will see that the origins of Easter are from Paganism and just rebadged with Jesus name on top of it. Starting from 300AD and onwards, is what allows many to feel better about the nonsense they do that have ZERO to do with the death, burial , and resurrection of Jesus.

So im using my same access to the internet as you and doing COMPLETE research, not just one to make me feel better and show profound ignorance like yours.

 

[SAAN]

It's amazing how foolish people can make themselves look. I have heard such exaggerated lies to the point of Easter hams come from Babylonian paganism, or that Christmas cookies have a long pagan history going back to the ancient Middle East.

All you can do is just stare at person and then ask - you do understand, those are just the way WE celebrate the holiday, right? It does not occur to them that there are other cultures out there, with the same holidays, and with their own customs and traditions.

If you were to go to Uruguay and tell the people Easter is pagan because of hams, Ishtar, and other such nonsense, they would have no idea what in the heck you were talking about.

God said DO NOT worship him in the same manner as the pagans worshiped their Gods, as it is an abomination to him, so if you are using the same symbols and just slapping another label ontop of it, you need to as why you are doing what you are doing.

You seem to be upset because people are calling out the stupid customs of Easter that have zero to do with Jesus: (Bunny Rabbits, Egg Hunts, Hot Cross Buns, Lent, Ash Wed, etc). You can remove all that nonsense and still remember the Messiah

 

[Ken Rank]

If you are true and honest with your self, and do honest research that actually dates back to before 300AD, you will see that the origins of Easter are from Paganism and just rebadged with Jesus name on top of it. Starting from 300AD and onwards, is what allows many to feel better about the nonsense they do that have ZERO to do with the death, burial , and resurrection of Jesus.

This is simply not true, and keep in mind, I am Messianic, we keep the feasts. Show me, and I am asking as a brother not to cause division, the evidence. Just don't give me Constantine's letter on the keeping of Easter... the word Easter is not in the letter, the word pascha is.

 

[SAAN]

This is simply not true, and keep in mind, I am Messianic, we keep the feasts. Show me, and I am asking as a brother not to cause division, the evidence. Just don't give me Constantine's letter on the keeping of Easter... the word Easter is not in the letter, the word pascha is.

Ive heard many say Pascha is what they celebrate and not Easter, and Im not saying you cant remember Resurrection, but the Messiah said to remember his death. I dont have a problem with Passover or Easter, my main been is churches holding Easter Egg hunts and all the nonsesne that have zero to do with Jesus. The fact that he didnt even die on a Friday and he didnt rise at sun riseon a Sunday morning makes you ask, biblically what are you celebrating ad where did it come from.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I enjoy the Easter eggs, chocolate, hot cross buns; and also the Christmas ham and turkey. I have no conscience at all in eating those items. Jesus said that it is not what goes into a person that defiles, but what comes out - the works of the flesh according to Galatians 5. I acknowledge Good Friday as Jesus dying on the cross for me. Easter Sunday is when Jesus rose from the dead to take away the power of sin and death from me. I celebrate Christmas to acknowledge that Jesus was born and came to earth as a flesh and blood human being to be my sinless Substitute. I honestly don't care about the origin of the particular festivals - whether they came from pagan influences or not. I celebrate these times for what they mean to me.

 

[Ken Rank]

Ive heard many say Pascha is what they celebrate and not Easter, and Im not saying you cant remember Resurrection, but the Messiah said to remember his death. I dont have a problem with Passover or Easter, my main been is churches holding Easter Egg hunts and all the nonsesne that have zero to do with Jesus. The fact that he didnt even die on a Friday and he didnt rise at sun riseon a Sunday morning makes you ask, biblically what are you celebrating ad where did it come from.

I don't disagree with you SAAN, there is no place for the eggs and bunnies but they aren't pagan either, they are cultural. But remember, when a Christian brother or sister gets up and looks in the direction of Jerusalem on that Sunday morning to pay homage to the God who raised His son from the dead, there is nothing pagan about it. It actually fits very well into Romans 14 and is really the closest a mainstream Christian comes to keeping a feast, as that is firstfruits.

 

[Ken Rank]

I enjoy the Easter eggs, chocolate, hot cross buns; and also the Christmas ham and turkey. I have no conscience at all in eating those items. Jesus said that it is not what goes into a person that defiles, but what comes out - the works of the flesh according to Galatians 5. I acknowledge Good Friday as Jesus dying on the cross for me. Easter Sunday is when Jesus rose from the dead to take away the power of sin and death from me. I celebrate Christmas to acknowledge that Jesus was born and came to earth as a flesh and blood human being to be my sinless Substitute. I honestly don't care about the origin of the particular festivals - whether they came from pagan influences or not. I celebrate these times for what they mean to me.

I "like" your comments, I don't agree with them. But I do respect where you are. Peace.

 

[Jipsah]

[Your thoughts on Easter and anything that you can add to this?

How about that other than kind of sounding alike, "Ishtar" and "Easter" have nothing to do with each other. But be of good cheer, most of Christendom calls the celebration of our Lord's Resurrection "Pascha" or some variation thereof. But the long and short is this, is your denom isn't celebrating the Rising of our Lord from the dead, and shouting "He is Risen indeed!", then they're messed up, because that's what Easter/Pascha/Påske/Pascua/Pâques/Paști/Resurrection Day is all about, punto, full stop, end message.

 

[Jipsah]

IF a Christian doesnt see something wrong with a candy egg laying rabbit being tied to their Messiah, they need to really study the true origins of some of the things that are being done in Easter and how they were just rebadged by the RCC.

Fake "history".

 

[Jipsah]

Theres really no reason to be so rude, alrighty?

It is pretty frustrating to see people posting arrant claptrap like that when there's really no reaosn for it. I think we can be forgiven for being a little testy for seeing balderdash like that propagated as though it was the truth for the umpteenth time.

 

[Jipsah]

There was NO SUCH THING AS EASTER in the days of Jesus

You mean they didn't celebrate our Lord's Resurrection before He was resurrected? Well dang! What ailed them?

it is a man made Catholic holiday

Of course. Who but the Rascally Romanists would have wanted to celebrate the single most important event in the history of the universe? The very idea! They'd have people think is was a Big Deal of some sort, right?

In the bible they kept Passover and Unleavened Bread.

None of this "He is Risen!" stuff for them, no sirree bob! Just a normal Passover seder, talking about Moses and Pharoah and the Death Angel and all, no need to run God Incarnate rising from the dead in and confusing things.

If you are true and honest with your self, and do honest research

Using only the very most reputable youtube sites as Primary Sources, of course. <Laugh>

is what allows many to feel better about the nonsense they do that have ZERO to do with the death, burial , and resurrection of Jesus.

Yeah, when we proclaim that "He is risen indeed!" it really means that we're talking about some nonexistent pagan deity that nobody ever heard of, much less believed in or worshipped, and not really our Lord Jesus Christ, who we shouldn't be worshipping anyway because we aren't allowed to let the Word Made Flesh intrude upon our recollections of Moses and Pharoah.

Got it.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

It is pretty frustrating to see people posting arrant claptrap like that when there's really no reaosn for it. I think we can be forgiven for being a little testy for seeing balderdash like that propagated as though it was the truth for the umpteenth time.

It's like trying to believe the unbelievable when if I could believe it, it wouldn't be unbelievable any longer, because I was able to believe it; but in actual fact I don't believe it, so it is actually unbelievable after all.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

You mean they didn't celebrate our Lord's Resurrection before He was resurrected? Well dang! What ailed them?

Of course. Who but the Rascally Romanists would have wanted to celebrate the single most important event in the history of the universe? The very idea! They'd have people think is was a Big Deal of some sort, right?

None of this "He is Risen!" stuff for them, no sirree bob! Just a normal Passover seder, talking about Moses and Pharoah and the Death Angel and all, no need to run God Incarnate rising from the dead in and confusing things.

Using only the very most reputable youtube sites as Primary Sources, of course. <Laugh>

Yeah, when we proclaim that "He is risen indeed!" it really means that we're talking about some nonexistent pagan deity that nobody ever heard of, much less believed in or worshipped, and not really our Lord Jesus Christ, who we shouldn't be worshipping anyway because we aren't allowed to let the Word Made Flesh intrude upon our recollections of Moses and Pharoah.

Got it.

So, you are deciding to go to work and work through Easter and Christmas so that you are not participating in a pagan ritual by taking a holiday at that time? Consistency means all or nothing.

 

[1John2:4]

I don't disagree with you SAAN, there is no place for the eggs and bunnies but they aren't pagan either, they are cultural. But remember, when a Christian brother or sister gets up and looks in the direction of Jerusalem on that Sunday morning to pay homage to the God who raised His son from the dead, there is nothing pagan about it. It actually fits very well into Romans 14 and is really the closest a mainstream Christian comes to keeping a feast, as that is firstfruits.

Ken, the things that make me curious about this claim is.
1. This celebration of the vernal equinox has not gone anywhere, pagans still celebrate it to this day.
Here are some cites that show how to celebrate ostara and her customs along with other spring goddesses.
http://www.egreenway.com/druids/st4p.ht
Celebrating Spring Equinox - School of the Seasons
Wheel of the Year - Wikipedia
Spring Vernal Equinox - Crystalinks
These are just a few sources of pagans today that worship in this way. Do you believe that they are just doing it as a slight to Christianity?

2. Nothing about easter is Biblical. Yeshua did not say to worship His resurrection on the sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox with eggs and bunnies. If it does not come from the Bible where then?

My opinion, the enimy is launching an attack because so many Christians are learning the Truth, turning to the Bible to learn and observe His Moedim. He is making brothers and sisters who point out the unbiblical practices of easter seem foolish. I deeply respect you and your knowledge however I have to agree with SAAN.

 

[Ken Rank]

Ken, the things that make me curious about this claim is.
1. This celebration of the vernal equinox has not gone anywhere, pagans still celebrate it to this day.
Here are some cites that show how to celebrate ostara and her customs along with other spring goddesses.
http://www.egreenway.com/druids/st4p.ht
Celebrating Spring Equinox - School of the Seasons
Wheel of the Year - Wikipedia
Spring Vernal Equinox - Crystalinks
These are just a few sources of pagans today that worship in this way. Do you believe that they are just doing it as a slight to Christianity?

As you are well aware, Genesis 1:14 has God creating the luminaries for various reasons including the ability to tell time and set the feasts. So, God created the vernal equinox and Israel has been using it since there was an Israel. I want to share something... do you know what calendar the church uses? You mention the method below, do you know where they got that method from? They got it from the priests... Sadducees. When Judah was in Babylon there was no temple and so no job for the priests. The elders received permission to build small buildings from which they could function as a people and hear out disputes. These buildings were called "synagogues." The elders who received the permission to do this were also given authority from the Pharsi (Farsi) speaking Persians (the had already defeated Babylon at this point) and those elders came out of now Persia called Pharisees. I know the rabbi's say the word comes from paresh, but that would have given the word Pharisee a hard P sound which it does not and never has had. Anyway, the Pharisees upon the return to Judea had the authority over all matters but now that they were back with the Temple, the priests now had a job again. So, we have the division between the Pharisees (Elders of the Gates) and the Sadducees (a transliteration of Zadoki, priests) and the priests deal with Temple duties INCLUDING the calendar and the Pharisees take over the teaching which is what they had been doing in the synagogues in Persia from the last generation.

When the Temple was destroyed in 70AD, there was no longer a need for priests. The Pharisees... now sprinting toward a rabbinically controlled religion (especially through Rabbi Akiva) set forth to create their own parameters regarding the calendar. We get to Yahvneh in 90AD and we begin to see the reconstruction of the methods that are used to set the dates of the feasts. This remains the method today for Jewish people, and it was also how the Christians would set the date for the celebration of the resurrection. Constantine's "Letter on the keeping of Pascha" was simply (and rudely, he was no friend of the Jews) trying to have the bishops find a way to determine when Passover was without having to wait on the Jews to tell them. This does make sense because by this time the church is now spread out over 1000 miles in 3 directions and waiting on the Jews to say, "today is Nisan 1" did not give them time to tell the rest of the quickly spreading church. So, the Council of Nicea raised the issue but spent most of the time on the Arian controversy and in the end, to make a long story short, they did NOT come to a conclusion. Instead, the method of reckoning when the first of months for the feasts was came in 367AD at Laodicea, after Constantine's death. They determined to use the first full moon after the vernal equinox as the indicator giving Christians ANYWHERE the ability to know the calendar wherever they happened to be.

Neat story... all true... that method of reckoning? That method was the same method used by the priests in the Temple in Yeshua's day and before. For as long as the priests determined the calendar, the luminaries ALONE determined the setting of moedim.

Now, just because pagans have corrupted something God created for good, means nothing to me. They did that with the urim and thummim (ouija boards) the stones on the breast plate of the high priest (birth stones) the story of restoration found in the arrangement of the stars (astrology) and so forth. Man has been corrupting what God created for good since man was created. I am not going to turn away from something God used for good just because I don't, in this case, agree with the church on a whole bunch of things.

I will stop here and turn this into two posts because of the length. Sorry, just wanted to be complete.

 

[Ken Rank]

2. Nothing about easter is Biblical. Yeshua did not say to worship His resurrection on the sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox with eggs and bunnies. If it does not come from the Bible where then?

Romans 14 gives folks the room to honor God on any day AS LONG AS it does not stand in contrast to His character (name). Of course that does not give us license to abrogate the Appointed Days, but one can add days if they wish. A Jew can set Purim apart or certain fasts... just as a Christian can set apart his baptism day or the day they found the empty tomb. Nobody is doing anything pagan by honoring God for raising the son on the morning the tomb was found empty. Furthermore, this cannot be ignored:

Lev 23:15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.

The word for Sabbath is Shabbat which denotes the weekly Sabbath not a High Sabbath. So, the day after the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread is Sunday. This is the first day in the count of 7 Sabbaths until Shavuot. This is all tied, of course, to first fruits, and since Paul rightly shares with us that Yeshua, being the first born of the dead, is what all this points to... then for the Christian to gather on the Sunday after Passover is the closest mainstream Christianity comes to keeping a feast. There is NOTHING PAGAN HERE and to say there is, I really believe, is bearing false witness against brethren. All they are doing is celebrating the resurrection of the first born of the dead, first fruits. It is biblical even if not mandated as a holy convocation.

The eggs come from an Eastern Orthodox practice that began in the 300's and continues today. There is >>NO HISTORICAL EVIDENCE AT ALL FROM THE TIME PERIOD IN QUESTION<< that has eggs being dyed for ANYTHING before the Eastern Orthodox practice began. And they began the practice based on a Mary Magdalene story that they believe. I don't believe... maybe it happened... I don't care... bottom line is what they are doing is no different than a Jewish person celebrating Hanukkah. To them they are taking part in something that historically can't be proven but is believed and in their eyes gives additional honor to the one God of Israel. We KNOW the tomb was found empty BY sunrise Sunday morning, so, to gather in the morning on that day to tell God "thanks" is wrong or pagan? No, it is gratefulness!

The bunnies come late... like late 1800's from a series of short stories and like Coke using Santa at Christmas, the bunny was secularly and culturally adopted for commerical purposes. I see no reason to dye eggs and definitely no reason to have rabbits involved... but there is no tie to pagan worship and Ishtar like the Hebrew Roots/ Messianic world claim. Without TIME PERIOD evidence, then the claims can't be substantiated. And according to Torah, if they can't be substantiated, they can't even be made without crossing the line into Lashon hara. That is just letting Scripture guide my steps in dealing with this.

My opinion, the enimy is launching an attack because so many Christians are learning the Truth, turning to the Bible to learn and observe His Moedim. He is making brothers and sisters who point out the unbiblical practices of easter seem foolish. I deeply respect you and your knowledge however I have to agree with SAAN.

You're welcome to and I don't take it personal, not at all. But I am driven by two things and I would ask you to consider them.

1. We will be judged as we judged others. So if we have a brother who is in error and we judge him quickly, harshly, and without mercy... we can expect the same. Because of this, I made a decision through prayer a decade ago to err on the side of mercy. I think that is more consistent with the fruits of the Spirit anyway.

2. We cannot break Torah to defend Torah. I agree, the Feasts are what God desires, they remain pictures, teaching tools, and community builders. But... the awakening we see today is being done over time, a generation, and some simply won't see it all at the same time. If we assume and ascribe an evil intent to one who does not know better, we are breaking Torah because we are bearing false witness. We are treating them as if in rebellion when their sin is either unknown or unintentional, or both. Surely some pastors and layman know better, but MOST have no clue... YET.

Not only that... each of us have taken a path to get to where we are today. God knew we would use that path, He taught us along each step of the path in order to mold us into the person and servant we are today. If we then turn and call each step on the path pagan, lies, deception (etc.) then knowing God made use of those steps... how are we not profaning HIM and His name (reputation, character, authority) by destroying the method He used to allow you to even see what we have been blessed to see today?

 

[SAAN]

You mean they didn't celebrate our Lord's Resurrection before He was resurrected? Well dang! What ailed them?

Of course. Who but the Rascally Romanists would have wanted to celebrate the single most important event in the history of the universe? The very idea! They'd have people think is was a Big Deal of some sort, right?

None of this "He is Risen!" stuff for them, no sirree bob! Just a normal Passover seder, talking about Moses and Pharoah and the Death Angel and all, no need to run God Incarnate rising from the dead in and confusing things.

Using only the very most reputable youtube sites as Primary Sources, of course. <Laugh>

Yeah, when we proclaim that "He is risen indeed!" it really means that we're talking about some nonexistent pagan deity that nobody ever heard of, much less believed in or worshipped, and not really our Lord Jesus Christ, who we shouldn't be worshipping anyway because we aren't allowed to let the Word Made Flesh intrude upon our recollections of Moses and Pharoah.

Got it.

I can quote quite a few places in the New testament that shows they were keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread years after the death of Jesus, but you will not be able to show me ANYWHERE in the New testament where they came together on a Friday to remember his death and on Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox to worship and remember his resurrection.

Ive been to a few Passover meals before and it was all about the Messiah, NOT Moses. Yes there will be some mention of him as it started with him and the tradition carried on for thousands of years since God said they are his Feast Days NOT the Jews own.

I do Passover and Unleavened Bread and I celebrate Easter with my family. Easter can be a great remembrance too when you remove all the extra crap: Bunnies, Eggs, Honey Baked Pig: etc, but its still not biblical, it was a man made holiday. The bible given examples in Ezekiel about not not bowing down to the sun in the east, yet what is most sunrise service, bowing down and worshipping towards the rising sun in the east, because Jesus rose at sunrise, even though the bible makes it quite clear he rose way before then, right as the sun had set and the Sabbath was ending 12 hrs before.

We are to worship God (YHWH) per his terms, NOT our own.