Easter and it's pagan origins

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I have become uncomfortable about celebrating Easter after reading various historical accounts of the original meaning of this festival, a spring fertility pagan goddess festival, dedicated throughout the world to Eastra,(Britian), Inanna,(Mesopotamis), the Canann Ishtar, Astarte

The word Easter is of Saxon origin, Eastra, the goddess of spring, in whose honour sacrifices were offered. The eggs and the bunny are ongoing symbols of fertility and rebirth.

I understand that this is how pagan festivities were ‘Christianised’ but there is evidence that the very earliest Christians, those who knew Jesus and the apostles, did not keep Easter, but Passover, as a memorial of his death, which is what he asked us to do at the last supper.

There was a whole group of 4th century, known as the Quartodecimans, who were excommunicated for insisting on Passover, with Christ as the memorial, and refusing to join with the Roman ‘easter’ which became mandatory at the council of Nicea in 325. Their leader, Polycrates wrote, “We for our part keep the day scrupulously, without addition or subtraction. For in Asia great luminaries sleep who shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s advent, when He is coming in glory from heaven and shall search out all the saints… All of these kept the fourteenth day of the month as the beginning of the Paschal festival, in accordance with the Gospel, not deviating in the least but following the rule of the Faith” ( The History of the Church, Eusebius, pages 230-231).

Keeping the previously pagan easter as the memory of Christ’s resurrection, makes me uncomfortable. Is it a contradiction of the biblical instruction regarding worship:

“When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:29–32).

Should we not be celebrating the memorial of his death, what we now recall on Holy Thursday, with the washing of the feet and Communion, on the first eve of Passover,as by biblical reckoning, a day begins at sunset and ends with sunset the next day. It would make more Biblical sense, and keep the church apart from the worldly celebration. Jesus was a Jew, after all, and all his disciples, but their new Passover was Christ, as He is our Passover sacrifice.

I would be interested if any one else finds this idea appealing. Decided to keep a Passover meal in our house this year. It was beautiful.
 
If you have been celebrating lent properly, you will remember the Fridays praying and giving thanks for non-meat snacks and meals. You will remember going to Church on Palm Sunday and bringing your palms home. You will remember the additional readings in Church in preparation for our holy day of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. You will remember seeing those around you at times not participating in going to mass, blessing their food, avoiding meat on Fridays. When Easter comes, you will know it is worth celebrating.

If you have avoided everything Catholic to research or Google paganism, then maybe you won’t celebrate. Life is full of choices, full of paths, and if you focus on what matters, you will then know that celebrating Easter as a Catholic is good.
 
CatholicSpirit said:
If you have been celebrating lent properly, you will remember the Fridays praying and giving thanks for non-meat snacks and meals. You will remember going to Church on Palm Sunday and bringing your palms home. You will remember the additional readings in Church in preparation for our holy day of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. You will remember seeing those around you at times not participating in going to mass, blessing their food, avoiding meat on Fridays. When Easter comes, you will know it is worth celebrating.

If you have avoided everything Catholic to research or Google paganism, then maybe you won’t celebrate. Life is full of choices, full of paths, and if you focus on what matters, you will then know that celebrating Easter as a Catholic is good.
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I grew up doing, and still do, all those things. But discovering the pagan origins of Easter, and the practices of the original Christians, gives me pause for thought. I did not consult any ‘pagan’ websites, and I resent your insinuation. I consulted historical and mythological sources, as any educated person can do. At the Last Supper, which took place on the eve of Passover, Jesus told us to keep it as a memorial of his death. After all, He became our Passover Lamb when he was crucified for us, so it makes sense that we would recall that at the time of Passover, rather than appropriating a pagan festival. My objection is not the memorial of His death or the celebration of His resurrection, but the timing . Jesus’ life, death and resurrection ties in with all the Jewish feasts, because He is the fulfillment of those feasts, so it would make eminent sense to coincide with the Jewish Passover. God gave us His times and seasons, and who are we to change them?
 
@Zeno:

What’s wrong with pagan origins? The Catholic Church using pagan places of worship, pagan customs, pagan holidays, etc., has been the default policy officially of the hierarchical Church since Pope St Gregory the Great (most notably in the conversion of Brittania from the druidic religion), and perhaps unofficially in many ways long, long before that. Similar policies, based on Pope St Gregory, have been used concerning Native Americans, Africans, and aboriginals and some of their practices.

That being said, Easter is a Christian holiday, but some of it’s peripheral influence from paganism is not only irrelevant, but debatably advantageous.
 
Zeno11 said:
I have become uncomfortable about celebrating Easter after reading various historical accounts of the original meaning of this festival, a spring fertility pagan goddess festival, dedicated throughout the world to Eastra,(Britian), Inanna,(Mesopotamis), the Canann Ishtar, Astarteas
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In most languages, the word for the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord is derived from the Hebrew word for Passover. It is only in German and English (a Germanic language) that it is related to the name of the pagan goddess.

Latin - Pascha or Festa Paschalia
Greek - Paskha
Bulgarian - Paskha
Danish - Paaske
Dutch - Pasen
Finnish - Pääsiäinen
French - Pâques
Indonesian - Paskah
Irish - Cáisc
Italian - Pasqua
Lower Rhine German - Paisken
Norwegian - Påske
Portuguese - Páscoa
Romanian - Pasti
Russian - Paskha
Scottish Gaelic - Càisg
Spanish - Pascua
Swedish - Påsk
Welsh - Pasg

Some other languages do not use the word for Passover, but there is hint of pagan origins:

Bulgarian - Velikden (literally: the Grand Day)
Polish - Wielkanoc (literally: the Grand Night)
Czech - Velikonoce (plural, no singular exists; made from Grand Nights)
Slovak - Velká Noc (singular; literally: the Grand Night)
Serbian - Uskrs or Vaskrs (literally: resurrection)
Japanese - Fukkatsu-sai (lit. resurrection festival)

In spite of many pagan customs that are observed in the secular celebration of the holiday, even a brief look at the religious celebration is that we undeniably are celebrating the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in this season. Please be at peace and enjoy your Pascha.
 
Zeno11 said:
I grew up doing, and still do, all those things. But discovering the pagan origins of Easter, and the practices of the original Christians, gives me pause for thought. I did not consult any ‘pagan’ websites, and I resent your insinuation. I consulted historical and mythological sources, as any educated person can do. At the Last Supper, which took place on the eve of Passover, Jesus told us to keep it as a memorial of his death. After all, He became our Passover Lamb when he was crucified for us, so it makes sense that we would recall that at the time of Passover, rather than appropriating a pagan festival. My objection is not the memorial of His death or the celebration of His resurrection, but the timing . Jesus’ life, death and resurrection ties in with all the Jewish feasts, because He is the fulfillment of those feasts, so it would make eminent sense to coincide with the Jewish Passover. God gave us His times and seasons, and who are we to change them?
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As a professional researcher who has studied many familiar and unfamiliar subjects, there are good books and bad books. Where I work, we have a library of books on mythology, and all I can say is that any claims that go beyond even mythology are false. Historical sources can be biased as well. It’s best to look at the Church herself for the answer as opposed to adopting other practices. God gave the Church His authority.
"…Easter should always be celebrated on a Sunday. Eusebius of Caesarea, our only source on this topic, reports the affair as follows:
Code: 
"A question of no small importance arose at that time [c. 190 AD]. The dioceses of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should always be observed as the feast of the life-giving pasch, 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. Synods and assemblies of bishops were held on this account, and all with one consent through mutual correspondence drew up an ecclesiastical decree that the mystery of the Resurrection of the Lord should be celebrated on no other day but the Sunday and that we should observe the close of the paschal fast on that day only. {7}'"
Ed
 
TK421 said:
But unless a false doctrine is specifically being endorsed, that’s irrelevant and non sequitur to the subject. Pagans were human beings and are our ancestors. You have grandparents down the line in your family who were pagans.
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Yes, Before Christ, there were no Christians as opposed to the Israelites who worshipped the same God. No proof has been provided that Easter, having been established since the earliest days of the Church, was to be celebrated on the day Christ rose - Sunday, derives from anything pagan. This is nonsense and hearsay.

Ed
 
Hi Zeno,

Unfortunately you have encountered various mistaken notions.

One can find various things on the Catholic Answers main site that can disabuse you of them.

For example catholic.com/qa/is-easter-an-english-translation-of-ishtar

By the way Easter is *just *the English word.

Other languages (like the rest of the globe and Church) do not even use that word or anything like it.…

Such as Pasqua …referring to the Paschal Mystery.

MESSAGGIO URBI ET ORBI
DEL SANTO PADRE BENEDETTO XVI

PASQUA 2009

You have encountered other misinformation too -about the early Christians (who yes celebrated the Resurrection) etc. Indeed every week it was the Lords Day (the day He rose) that was central (without the Lords Day we cannot live - was the response even of some of the early Martyrs)

Do not let such mistaken ideas keep you from celebrating the central and most important feast in the Church - the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth the Christ and Lord. You can leave aside the secular additions of course…but in Christ the Risen Lord is* true life!*
 
Bookcat said:
Hi Zeno,

Unfortunately you have encountered various mistaken notions.

One can find various things on the Catholic Answers main site that can disabuse you of them.

For example catholic.com/qa/is-easter-an-english-translation-of-ishtar

By they way Easter is *just *the English word.

Other languages (like the rest of the globe and Church) do not even use that word or anything like it.…

Such as Pasqua …referring to the Paschal Mystery.

MESSAGGIO URBI ET ORBI
DEL SANTO PADRE BENEDETTO XVI

PASQUA 2009
Click to expand...
In French it is Pâques. And interestingly, the Jewish Passover is called “La pâque”, or “La pâque juive”.

And then there’s Pascha in Latin.
 
Here is an article that goes into the etymological origins of Easter.

Keep in mind that the article is primarily about defending the King James version of the Bible, which has “Easter” in Acts 12:4 rather than Passover.
 
Easter has zero pagan roots. It has JEWISH roots and is the Christian Passover. In almost every language, it is called “Passover”. (See a previous post above)

The only reason why Easter (Pascha) doesn’t always fall at the same time as the current Jewish Passover is because the Jews changed their calculation method long after Christianity formalized the calculation. And the only reason why the Eastern Orthdox don’t celebrate it at the same time is because they are still using a calendar that has been scientifically proven to be inaccurate.

The only “pagan” things the Church ever “christenizes” are secular traditions. But even the Easter Egg has Christian roots. catholiccompany.com/getfed/mary-magdalene-first-easter-egg/

I just read a Scientific American article which makes all these pagan links to Easter but never sites anything the Church teaches. Pascha is purely Jewish, it’s our Christian Passover. Yes, the Germans used the German word for Easter to help convert pagans, but the holiday was not invented by Constantine, nor was Constantine inspired by Pursians and other pagans. The Solemenity of the Resurection of the Lord was celebrated by the Apostles.

Are eggs used in pagan traditions sure. But the Christian story regarding Easter egg is listed above.(though many haven’t heard it because it’s Greek).

In closing, you can’t judge a Religious Holiday by the secular, local traditions that grow up around it. Those are often cultural and sometimes have roots pre-Christ. The Church has always allowed local customs to reside in her, as long as they do not negate the Gospel or lead people to heresy. This is why we have many liturgical rites, and not just one. Look to how the Church defines and teaches.

God Bless
 
Let’s also remember that there have been lots of anti-Catholic propaganda written over the centuries (esp during the last 500 years) that has been been presented as authentic history, when it fact it isn’t. Anti-Catholic British historians and anti-Catholic scholars of the enlightenment have done some serious damage to history of the Church.

Today, many historians (esp ones who write for magazines like Scientific America) treat works from scholars from these anti-Catholics as 100% accurate, when real historian researchers are in the Universities re-discovering the truths.

For some reason, Western liberals and acedemics have a tendency to assume the worst when researching our Christian past and believe that we were all barbaric instead of believing that people were actually inherently good. Was there political corruption, sure, there always is. But the average person and the Church was still inheritely good.

God Bless
 
Zeno11 said:
I have become uncomfortable about celebrating Easter after reading various historical accounts of the original meaning of this festival, a spring fertility pagan goddess festival, dedicated throughout the world to Eastra,(Britian), Inanna,(Mesopotamis), the Canann Ishtar, Astarte

The word Easter is of Saxon origin, Eastra, the goddess of spring, in whose honour sacrifices were offered. The eggs and the bunny are ongoing symbols of fertility and rebirth.

I understand that this is how pagan festivities were ‘Christianised’ but there is evidence that the very earliest Christians, those who knew Jesus and the apostles, did not keep Easter, but Passover, as a memorial of his death, which is what he asked us to do at the last supper.

There was a whole group of 4th century, known as the Quartodecimans, who were excommunicated for insisting on Passover, with Christ as the memorial, and refusing to join with the Roman ‘easter’ which became mandatory at the council of Nicea in 325. Their leader, Polycrates wrote, “We for our part keep the day scrupulously, without addition or subtraction. For in Asia great luminaries sleep who shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s advent, when He is coming in glory from heaven and shall search out all the saints… All of these kept the fourteenth day of the month as the beginning of the Paschal festival, in accordance with the Gospel, not deviating in the least but following the rule of the Faith” ( The History of the Church, Eusebius, pages 230-231).

Keeping the previously pagan easter as the memory of Christ’s resurrection, makes me uncomfortable. Is it a contradiction of the biblical instruction regarding worship:

“When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:29–32).

Should we not be celebrating the memorial of his death, what we now recall on Holy Thursday, with the washing of the feet and Communion, on the first eve of Passover,as by biblical reckoning, a day begins at sunset and ends with sunset the next day. It would make more Biblical sense, and keep the church apart from the worldly celebration. Jesus was a Jew, after all, and all his disciples, but their new Passover was Christ, as He is our Passover sacrifice.

I would be interested if any one else finds this idea appealing. Decided to keep a Passover meal in our house this year. It was beautiful.
Click to expand...
Seder meals are against the first commandment as it denies the New Passover, Jesus. The Church calls Easter Pascha, and not Easter. Get your head out of the Jack Chick type stuff. The Church is perfect. She knows what she is doing. Nothing in the Church is pagan
 
If we dyed Easter eggs on the altar THAT would be a major problem. Sorry for the insinuation, please consider it a rejection of Googling others may or may not have done to mock a special day.
 
Dear babochka,

Thank you for your enlightening post.

It is true that in Latin and Romance languages, this confusion does not arise.

Because of the heterogeneity of word origins in English, we often end up using a word with pagan overtones to describe a perfectly Catholic concept.

Another good example is “Hell” for the place of final punishment of impenitent sinners; the word “Hell” is not in the Bible (the Latin is infernum, the Greek is gehenna), and is actually of Scandinavian pagan origin. That does not mean that the notion of Hell is pagan. 🙂
 
The Jewish holiday that Christ rose on is called “First Fruits” - not Passover. It was the day that the first of the grain harvest was offered onto God. Jesus is the First Fruits of all those who will be resurrected–he was the first to be resurrected. (see I Corinthians 15:22 & 23)

There is no problem having a Seder meal, as long as it gives glory and acknowledges that Jesus is the Passover Lamb who has become the fulfillment of the promises. Many Christians participate in Passover meals as they’re a good teaching tool and gives us a better understanding of The Last Supper, its ritual, and all of its symbolism. As long as people realize that we are not bound by the Jewish law to keep the feast as a perpetual memorial and get sidetracked by making it mandatory.

As far as Easter Eggs, it would be far better to use the egg as a symbol of the Trinity-- one egg with 3 parts, i.e., the shell, the white, and the yolk. It’s too bad that many non-religious customs have crept into Easter celebrations. The same with Santa Claus – just something else the enemy can delight in which takes people’s eyes off the true meaning.
 
Zeno11;14586379:
. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:29–32)
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In the document The Jewish People and Their Scriptures in the Christian Bible the Pontifical Biblical Commission including Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger offer an introduction on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments in the Bible.

ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PBCJWSCR.HTM

Broadly, the document describes what stays the same from Old to New, what has changed, and there’s one more category that I don’t remember.

If you take Dt 12:29-32 too literally, then you become like the Samaritans, who only recognized the first five books of the Bible, the Torah. Yesterday was the start of Passover. Did you kill your goat or sheep and sprinkle your doorposts? And, why not?
 
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