What is the origin of Easter?

[reddogs]

Easter was not the Pasch or Passover, it came from another origin. Take a closer look, "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.

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. There was violent conflict on Vatican Hill in the early days of Christianity between the Jesus worshippers and pagans who quarrelled over whose God was the true, and whose the imitation...So, eventually Christianity came to an accommodation with the pagan Spring festival. Although we see no celebration of Easter in the New Testament, early church fathers celebrated it, and today many churches are offering "sunrise services" at Easter – an obvious pagan solar celebration. The date of Easter is not fixed, but instead is governed by the phases of the moon...https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/03/easter-pagan-symbolism

 

[reddogs]

The name "Easter" never appears in the Greek New Testament. Easter is not a Christian name. It is Chaldean/Babylonian in origin and the title related to their goddess. Easter, is a holiday actually based on an ancient Pagan ritual. Unlike most holidays, Easter does not fall on the same set date each year, so its not the Pasch or Pasover. Instead, Christians in the West celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the full moon of the vernal equinox on March 21, or the Spring Equinox. The Pagan ritual of the Spring Equinox is a celebration of renewed life and the change that comes with spring.

This solar festival is celebrated when the length of the day and the length of the night are equal, which occurs twice a year at the spring and fall Equinox. Throughout history, this turn in the seasons has been celebrated by various cultures that had held festivals in honor of their gods and goddesses at these times of the year. The origin of the Easter egg, was from ancient times were they were used in religious rituals throughout Egypt and Greece. Eggs were hung for mystic purposes in temples, on the banks of the Euphrates and Babylon pagan temples. Pagan priests held celebrations for the gods and goddess, and claimed they received the power of sacrificing for the dead.

The goddess in ancient religions was worshipped as the life giver and nurturer. Easter is basically the worship of Ashtarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the Queen of Heaven. The Easter “buns” were used in the worship of the queen of heaven, the goddess of Easter. As early as the days of Cecrops it was celebrated, the founder of Athens, hundreds of years before the Christian era. The prophet Jeremiah takes notice of this 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.” ( Jer. 7:18 )

Even today, Pagans continue to celebrate spring and attribute the change of the seasons to the powers of their god and goddess.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

"Easter" is derived from Old German/Norse, means "Dawn", and has never been linked to any pagan deity, despite much speculation, much of it sanctimonious and breathless. Absolutely nothing to do with Ishtar, vaguely homophonic similarity notwithstanding.

 

[reddogs]

"Easter" is derived from Old German/Norse, means "Dawn", and has never been linked to any pagan deity, despite much speculation, much of it sanctimonious and breathless. Absolutely nothing to do with Ishtar, vaguely homophonic similarity notwithstanding.

How could it be from the time of Christ then, it came from another origin, the pagan myths of rebirth and regeneration. It didn't come from the Christian faith as it wasn't till the 8th century this name of Easter, had come to be applied to the anniversary of Christ's resurrection. With the passage of time the connection with the goddess was lost, the only remaining meaning being associated with Christ's resurrection. Unquestionably the resurrection was of enormous importance to the apostolic church, for it figures prominently in the evangelistic messages from the apostles as recorded in the book of Acts. No issue is made about the date when it occurred, however, other than to note in a factual manner that the resurrection occurred on the first day of the week.

The apostolic church never gave attention to either the date of Christ's birth or the date of His resurrection, other than to note that the latter occurred on a Sunday. Neither of these days was observed by early Christians but as the pagan influence came into the church so did its festivals. In the third and fourth centuries a tremendous debate arose among Christian churches as to when Easter was to be observed. For the Roman Catholic branch it was largely settled at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) with a formula still followed to this day, which cannot possibly be commemoration of the actual resurrection. In current practice Easter always falls on a Sunday and the Sunday chosen wanders over a period of four weeks ranging from March 22-April 25. The eastern branch of Christendom selected a different system, so that in the Eastern Orthodox tradition both Christmas and Easter fall on different dates from those in the Western Catholic and Protestant tradition. The point is that the early Christians gave no attention to commemorating the resurrection day of Christ. If they had been serious they would be observing the 17th day of the Jewish month, Nisan, which begins with the first new moon following the spring solstice. Passover among the Jews begins with the 14th day of Nisan. It would not be possible to commemorate the actual day of the month and have it always on Sunday, so the choice was made to have it on Sunday, adjusting the day of the month for convenience.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

How could it be from the time of Christ then, it came from another origin, the pagan myths of rebirth and regeneration. It didn't come from the Christian faith as it wasn't till the 8th century this name of Easter, had come to be applied to the anniversary of Christ's resurrection. With the passage of time the connection with the goddess was lost, the only remaining meaning being associated with Christ's resurrection. Unquestionably the resurrection was of enormous importance to the apostolic church, for it figures prominently in the evangelistic messages from the apostles as recorded in the book of Acts. No issue is made about the date when it occurred, however, other than to note in a factual manner that the resurrection occurred on the first day of the week.

The apostolic church never gave attention to either the date of Christ's birth or the date of His resurrection, other than to note that the latter occurred on a Sunday. Neither of these days was observed by early Christians but as the pagan influence came into the church so did its festivals. In the third and fourth centuries a tremendous debate arose among Christian churches as to when Easter was to be observed. For the Roman Catholic branch it was largely settled at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) with a formula still followed to this day, which cannot possibly be commemoration of the actual resurrection. In current practice Easter always falls on a Sunday and the Sunday chosen wanders over a period of four weeks ranging from March 22-April 25. The eastern branch of Christendom selected a different system, so that in the Eastern Orthodox tradition both Christmas and Easter fall on different dates from those in the Western Catholic and Protestant tradition. The point is that the early Christians gave no attention to commemorating the resurrection day of Christ. If they had been serious they would be observing the 17th day of the Jewish month, Nisan, which begins with the first new moon following the spring solstice. Passover among the Jews begins with the 14th day of Nisan. It would not be possible to commemorate the actual day of the month and have it always on Sunday, so the choice was made to have it on Sunday, adjusting the day of the month for convenience.

How can it be from BEFORE the time of Christ then? You were claiming it was Babylonian a second ago. Sure, it may be borrowing a pagan name, but all that stuff about it being secret worship of a pagan goddess is just purity testing nonsense. English is largely based on Germanic and Latin roots, pretty much ALL of our words have pagan origins. But so what? Whether you call Easter "Easter" or not, it's just words. God cares about meanings, not the symbols we use to represent them.

I reiterate my point, Easter has nothing to do with Ishtar, and no goddess of that name is identified in the Germanic pantheon. This is nothing but the same tired dog whistling thay gets dragged out every Christmas and Easter.

 

[metis]

Which day a particular religion may celebrate a particular holiday is their business, plus it is irrelevant as to what symbols may have meant to an earlier group. What really matters is what those symbols came to mean within the receiving group, and that's their business.

My wife and I are celebrating Easter starting out this evening, and we can do as such without worrying about which symbols or days may have originally been "pagan". And yesterday evening we celebrated Passover, and we didn't worry about which symbols used there may have originally been "pagan".

IOW, it's not what they were-- it's what they are today.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

Which day a particular religion may celebrate a particular holiday is their business, plus it is irrelevant as to what symbols may have meant to an earlier group. What really matters is what those symbols came to mean within the receiving group, and that's their business.

My wife and I are celebrating Easter starting out this evening, and we can do as such without worrying about which symbols or days may have originally been "pagan". And yesterday evening we celebrated Passover, and we didn't worry about which symbols used there may have originally been "pagan".

IOW, it's not what they were-- it's what they are today.

"Wind" and "wind" are both spelled the same, that doesn't make walking down winding pathways a secret Jesuit plot to trick people into unknowingly worshipping Aeolus, god of winds. This anagram numerology stuff comes out every Easter and Christmas. Seriously guys, yes, Santa and Satan are anagrams in one highly specific linguistic cultural coincidence, we know. You haven't just uncovered some evil Vatican plot to... do... something (it's never really clear what the end goal is) by tricking people into using words that sound vaguely like some other words when shorn of all context.

 

[reddogs]

How can it be from BEFORE the time of Christ then? You were claiming it was Babylonian a second ago. Sure, it may be borrowing a pagan name, but all that stuff about it being secret worship of a pagan goddess is just purity testing nonsense. English is largely based on Germanic and Latin roots, pretty much ALL of our words have pagan origins. But so what? Whether you call Easter "Easter" or not, it's just words. God cares about meanings, not the symbols we use to represent them.

I reiterate my point, Easter has nothing to do with Ishtar, and no goddess of that name is identified in the Germanic pantheon. This is nothing but the same tired dog whistling thay gets dragged out every Christmas and Easter.

Pagan worship goes way back, check the Babylonian history and gods and you will find it, the Norse just continued it.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

Pagan worship goes way back, check the Babylonian history and gods and you will find it, the Norse just ccntinued it.

Utterly separate and unrelated pagan and linguistic traditions. Paganism isn't a single religion. But my points stand. Still nothing to do with Ishtar, still no Germanic goddess called "Easter", and even if there were, it doesn't matter, because words are symbols, symbols only have the meanings we give them, and worship must be done with intent.

 

[reddogs]

Now the issue of "Easter celebration" began as pagans were being used as pawns in the number of converts, disputes arose as the bishop of Rome allowed the celebration of the Pasch or Passover to continue till the following Sunday so the new pagan 'converts' to the church at Rome could also celebrate Spring Equinox festival as they had done before.

Now the danger of allowing the Christians to join in pagan solstice celebrations was overlooked as the new pagan 'converts' joined the church and swelled the numbers under the bishop of Rome. But other Christian leaders saw the danger of worship according to the old pagan festivals and tried to stop it in what came to be known as Paschal/Easter controversies. The first recorded such controversy came to be known as the Quartodeciman controversy.

Eusebius of Caesarea (Church History, V, xxiii) wrote:
"A question of no small importance arose at that time [i.e. the time of Pope Victor I, about A.D. 190]. The dioceses of all Asia, according to an ancient tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon [of Nisan], on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should always be observed as the feast of the life-giving pasch (epi tes tou soteriou Pascha heortes), contending that the fast ought to end on that day, whatever day of the week it might happen to be. However it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this point, as they observed the practice, which from Apostolic tradition has prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the Resurrection of our Saviour." So the bishop of Rome began the practice of fixing the celebration of Passover for Christians on Sunday and it spread through the old areas of the Empire.Polycarp the disciple of John the Apostle who was now the bishop of Smyrna, came and confronted Anicetus, the Bishop of Rome who had allow the changes in the Passover and other changes to bring in converts.According to Irenaeus, around the 150s or 160, Polycarp visited Rome to discuss the differences that existed between the other centers of Christianity in Asia and Rome "with regard to certain things" and especially about the time of the Pasch or Passover which in Rome were now the Easter festivals.

Irenaeus says that Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, observed the fourteenth day of the moon, whatever day of the week that might be, following therein the tradition which he derived from John the Apostle. Irenaeus said that on certain things the two bishops speedily came to an understanding, while as to the time of the Pasch and the change to Easter, each adhered to his own custom. Polycarp following the eastern practice of celebrating Passover on the 14th of Nisan, the day of the Jewish Passover, regardless of what day of the week it fell while the bishop of Rome let it be observed on Sunday.

So the Bishop of Rome ignore the warning and continued to allow the Passover to be observed on Sunday at the pagan Spring Equinox festival connected to the goddess Eostre the "goddess of sunrise" so this is how the Pasch was change to the festival of Easter.

Now lets look at the historical breakdown of what occurred that led to the pagan festivals such as Easter to bring in pagan belief's that entered the church in the early centuries. Most originated in Alexandria or Rome and from those two locations they gradually spread to many of the western churches, and thence to some of the eastern ones. Until the fourth century and some time beyond, the eastern churches, being farther from Rome, tended to remain closer to the teachings of the Apostles.

Pagan sun worship continued to be the official religion of the empire until Constantine would make the changes that would allow it to be 'christianized'. The early church compromised and began to let pagan sun worship creep in and there was no one to stop it as most of the disciples were gone by 65 A.D. John, the last of the Apostles, died just before 100 A.D.

By the year 200, pagan compromises and practices were beginning to come into the church in a decided way. By 250, pagan beliefs were sweeping into the early church in an flood. About the year 154 A.D., Anticetus, bishop of the church at Rome, authorized a Sunday festival to correspond with the Attis fertility festival. This was a combining of Mithra, Attis and Christ and would better appeal to the heathen, he thought. Polycarp who was a close friend of the Apostle John before his death, the same one who tried to win Anticetus back to the true Sabbath, also tried to dissuade him from keeping the pagan festivals. But he failed in his efforts and returned with a sad report to the brethren in the eastern churches.

The Roman church instituted the new Easter Sunday to avoid appearing to be "Judaizers" to the Roman authorities. There is a direct relationship between observing an Easter Sunday and a weekly Sunday as a day of worship. Each Sunday is held to be a "mini Easter" in commemoration of the (supposed) resurrection of Christ.

 

[metis]

"Wind" and "wind" are both spelled the same, that doesn't make walking down winding pathways a secret Jesuit plot to trick people into unknowingly worshipping Aeolus, god of winds. This anagram numerology stuff comes out every Easter and Christmas. Seriously guys, yes, Santa and Satan are anagrams in one highly specific linguistic cultural coincidence, we know. You haven't just uncovered some evil Vatican plot to... do... something (it's never really clear what the end goal is) by tricking people into using words that sound vaguely like some other words when shorn of all context.

Amen, and I truly hope you and yours have a most Blessed Easter.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

Amen, and I truly hope you and yours have a most Blessed Easter.

To you and yours as well

 

[metis]

The move to a mainly Sunday observance occurred in the 2nd century as an extension of the "agape meal", whereas the congregation would dine in communion with each other on that day as a celebration of Jesus' resurrection. What we don't know is who first started that and exactly where it started, but the idea spread to the point that by the end of the 2nd century it was a widespread, but not universal, practice.

Source: "Tradition In the Early Church" by Hanson (Anglican).

 

[reddogs]

The move to a mainly Sunday observance occurred in the 2nd century as an extension of the "agape meal", whereas the congregation would dine in communion with each other on that day as a celebration of Jesus' resurrection. What we don't know is who first started that and exactly where it started, but the idea spread to the point that by the end of the 2nd century it was a widespread, but not universal, practice.

Source: "Tradition In the Early Church" by Hanson (Anglican).

Well that is the story they give, but its a little more than that. After the fall of Rome, the Bishop of Rome served as a source of authority and continuity from the old empire but Rome had also been the center of the pagan priests and their temples during the Roman Empire, and they did not go away. The bishop of Rome, to bring in more converts brought what they were familiar with and allowed the traditional Roman mysteries and deities of solar monism such as Mithras and Sol Invictus and idol worship back into the church, along with its Pagan doctrines, graven images and ceremonies. It renamed the mother godess and others that were worshiped and brought them into the church at Rome, then with its influence as the old center of the empire, it spread into the other centers of Christianity.

Christians at Rome had been faithful as they were persecuted for many years but as they became accepted and persecution stop, other challenges faced them. Greek philosophy and Gnosticism had been picked up and in Rome the old beliefs and festivals were still followed by the Romans and many Christian and leaders didn't see a problem with it. The pagan symbols of sun worship brought in included the solar wheel dating back to the Chaldeans, halos, various pagan crosses, lightning bolts, tridents, astrological signs, globes as symbols of rulership of the universe, sacred hearts, sacred animals some from pagan myths such as dragons, the serpent, unicorn and the phoenix, sacred trees and prayer beads for repetitive prayers even though the Bible admonishes:

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:7

 

[metis]

Well that is the story they give, but its a little more than that. After the fall of Rome, the Bishop of Rome served as a source of authority and continuity from the old empire but Rome had also been the center of the pagan priests and their temples during the Roman Empire, and they did not go away. The bishop of Rome, to bring in more converts brought what they were familiar with and allowed the traditional Roman mysteries and deities of solar monism such as Mithras and Sol Invictus and idol worship back into the church, along with its Pagan doctrines, graven images and ceremonies. It renamed the mother godess and others that were worshiped and brought them into the church at Rome, then with its influence as the old center of the empire, it spread into the other centers of Christianity.

Christians at Rome had been faithful as they were persecuted for many years but as they became accepted and persecution stop, other challenges faced them. Greek philosophy and Gnosticism had been picked up and in Rome the old beliefs and festivals were still followed by the Romans and many Christian and leaders didn't see a problem with it. The pagan symbols of sun worship brought in included the solar wheel dating back to the Chaldeans, halos, various pagan crosses, lightning bolts, tridents, astrological signs, globes as symbols of rulership of the universe, sacred hearts, sacred animals some from pagan myths such as dragons, the serpent, unicorn and the phoenix, sacred trees and prayer beads for repetitive prayers even though the Bible admonishes:

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:7

Sorry but I'm really not into conspiracy theories.

Dr. Hanson well documents his findings and interpretations, which is not to say he's the final word of course, plus the issue of "pagan" or "paganism" in this context is simply nonsensical, imo, especially since it is unimportant what a particular symbol may have been with another group but very important to what these symbols became within the Christian context.

BTW, many of these same symbols were and are also used within the Orthodox Church, the Anglican Church, and many Protestant Churches, including yours.

 

[reddogs]

History shows that the Babylonian system of worship has essentially been maintained even is hidden as mystery's or ceremonies or otherwise to modern day and can be seen in some form or another. The ancient Chaldeans worshipped a pantheon of male and female gods representing the sun god and there were largely three aspects to this system of sun worship, representing the father, mother, and the son. The mother goddess, Astarte, or Beltis represented the mother. She was also referred to as the ‘queen of heaven’, and the ‘wrath subduer’.

The Greeks picked up and adopted the Babylonian gods and the foreign gods were given or take Greek names. Histopririan Dr Franz Cumont says, 'The native religions retained all their prestige and independence. In their ancient sanctuaries that took rank with the richest and most famous in the world, a powerful clergy continued to practise ancestral devotions according to barbarian rites, and frequently liturgy, everywhere performed with scrupulous respect.. (Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, p. 22).

The Greeks picked up the Babylonian worship and carried to completion Alexander the Greats project of restoring Bel’s temple at Babylon and re-founded Nebo’s temple at Borsippa, and many pagan temples where restored as the Babylonian religion became dominant among the Greeks. The Babylonian gods took Greek names, as we see the Greek name of their idol was Zeus Olympus, but it was clearly the old Mesopotamian sun-god.

"By the second century the Roman Empire annexed Mesopotamia to its rule, and the Babylonian system moved westward. Under the Empire many of the conquered people were transported to Rome as slaves and took their religions directly with them. The Chaldean astrology, of which the Syrian priests were enthusiastic disciples, had furnished them (the Romans) with the elements of a scientific theology (Cumont, Oriental Religions, p. 199).

"And the "Babylonian sun-worship and the mystery religions became the official religions of Rome. The Emperor Aurelian in the third century, proclaimed the sun-god as the official god of the Romans. This Sun-worship was the final form which Roman paganism assumed. In 274 A.D. the emperor Aurelian conferred on it official recognition, inspired by what he had seen at Palmyra, he founded a gorgeous temple in honour of Sol Invictus — the invincible Sun — served by priests who had precedence even over the members of the ancient Collegium pontificum; and in the following century, the Claudian emperors worshipped the almighty star (the sun) ... The invincible Sun raised to the supreme position in the divine hierarchy, peculiar protector of sovereigns and of the Empire, tends to absorb or subordinate to himself all other divinities (Cumont, Astrology and Religion, p. 133).

Even the later Roman emperors, took up the Babylonian sun god and its worship spread among the Romans.The Greek gods and Babylonian system of worship were basically picked up by the Romans and integrated into their religion.

So we see the connection to the ancient worship of the Babylonian sun god, and Easter and its true origin, and the church at Rome was at the center and the change was slowly introduced at Rome about the middle of the second century, and it was not from the Apostles or scripture, but for another reason, of pagan origin.

This mixture of Babylonian/Roman religion now got into the church in Rome which gave a 'Christian; cover to the beliefs that had dominated during the Roman Empire. For example, it reinstated the ceremonies and obligations of the Collegium Pontificum and the position of Pontifex Maximus of the ancient Roman polytheistic religion and created Christian orders to replace the ancient Roman ones such as the Vestal Virgins and the flamines.

 

[metis]

History shows that the Babylonian system of worship has essentially been maintained even is hidden as mystery's or ceremonies or otherwise to modern day and can be seen in some form or another.

One can trace it back much earlier than that to the ancient Sumerians.

Even the later Roman emperors, took up the Babylonian sun god and its worship spread among the Romans.The Greek gods and Babylonian system of worship were basically picked up by the Romans and integrated into their religion.

Pre-Constantine, yes.

So we see the connection to the ancient worship of the Babylonian sun god, and Easter and its true origin, and the church at Rome was at the center and the change was slowly introduced at Rome about the middle of the second century, and it was not from the Apostles or scripture, but for another reason, of pagan origin.

Canon Law has always forbidden the worship of any object, including the sun. The 2nd through 4th century patriarchs did not rely on "pagan" texts but did borrow some symbols which they redirected to stand for something else.

The "sun", which you mentioned earlier, symbolizes the "light of Christ" mentioned by Paul but was not and certainly is not worshiped then nor now. If your church is telling you that Catholics do this, let me recommend that you find another church because they would be lying to you. If you doubt this, maybe look it up in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" or in official Catholic websites.

This mixture of Babylonian/Roman religion now got into the church in Rome which gave a 'Christian; cover to the beliefs that had dominated during the Roman Empire.

Absolutely false, and I've seen such nonsense before like this. I was even fed the same garbage decades ago as I grew up in a fundamentalist Protestant church and had plans to go into the ministry but eventually left that church in my mid-twenties when I realized through my research that I was being misled on this and some other matters. Let me just say that I recommend you be very careful in believing some of the hogwash that some groups teach as "fact", especially since anti-Catholicism tends to be all too common. It's quite acceptable not to accept its teachings, but it is not academically acceptable to make or parrot "alternative facts".

Anyhow, have a Most Blessed Easter-- if you celebrate it of course.