Easter no longer celebrated by some Protestants?

[kim3260]

All my life, as a Catholic in the Bible Belt, I thought I heard it all.
But this one tops them all.
Last week I nicely wished a store person a “Have a Happy Easter” I was informed that she does not celebrate a that pagan holiday, that everyday is Resurection Day for her. Following that she went on about it and another two people piped in on it, and then the anti-Catholic stuff started and I am embarassed to say, that I just grabbed my buggy and walked away because I had no come back I really did not know how to repond, That is why I am here asking you all what do I say next time?
When this this happen? I notice still many of the Baptist churches, which this person is, had a sunrise service, the Methodist and Espiscolian as well had its services, so not all believe this.
I understand when the atheist with their refusal to celebrate Christian Holidays, but when Christians do this, I am at a loss.

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

All my life, as a Catholic in the Bible Belt, I thought I heard it all.
But this one tops them all.
Last week I nicely wished a store person a “Have a Happy Easter” I was informed that she does not celebrate a that pagan holiday, that everyday is Resurection Day for her. Following that she went on about it and another two people piped in on it, and then the anti-Catholic stuff started and I am embarassed to say, that I just grabbed my buggy and walked away because I had no come back I really did not know how to repond, That is why I am here asking you all what do I say next time?
When this this happen? I notice still many of the Baptist churches, which this person is, had a sunrise service, the Methodist and Espiscolian as well had its services, so not all believe this.
I understand when the atheist with their refusal to celebrate Christian Holidays, but when Christians do this, I am at a loss.

Easter was originally a pagan holiday and some conservative groups shun anything that smells of old pagan rites. I belonged to a few of them in my life, but always celebrated Easter anyway. However, I did not participate in Halloween during that time.

It’s only fringe groups that believe this way, so don’t think that they are in the majority. They are actually in the minority among protestants. You have to understand that these groups don’t believe that Easter is a Christian holiday, so it’s a moot point for them.

Peace…

MW

 

[heisenburg]

???

Easter originally a pagan holiday???

(not talking about easter bunny easter)

So. where is it, or was it ever pagan.

1. Holy week occurs in conjunction with Passover…
2. Holy Thursday is specifically to remember the last super, the garden, etc
3. Good Friday is the day he gets crucified
4. Resurrection Sunday remembers, well, his resurrection

the time of year s known, unlike Christmas…
The events surrounding are know…

It’s like saying July the 4th is a pagan Egyptian holiday because… well because… No evidence…

If you want to complain about easter bunnies and egg hunts… ok fine whatever… but to say Easter was at one point pagan???

I’m in complete shock… and at the same time terribly saddened groups of Christians actually believe…

The closest I have ever heard is that there was a god from an old religion named something LIKE easter…

But thats like saying every one named Jesus is the son of God simply because they have the same name…

Or that Church of Christ denominations are the first denomination because the bible says we must be members of the Church of Christ…

terribly sad…

dishearteningly sad…

:crying:



IN Christ

 

[kim3260]

???

Easter originally a pagan holiday???

(not talking about easter bunny easter)

So. where is it, or was it ever pagan.

1. Holy week occurs in conjunction with Passover…
2. Holy Thursday is specifically to remember the last super, the garden, etc
3. Good Friday is the day he gets crucified
4. Resurrection Sunday remembers, well, his resurrection

the time of year s known, unlike Christmas…
The events surrounding are know…

It’s like saying July the 4th is a pagan Egyptian holiday because… well because… No evidence…

If you want to complain about easter bunnies and egg hunts… ok fine whatever… but to say Easter was at one point pagan???

I’m in complete shock… and at the same time terribly saddened groups of Christians actually believe…

The closest I have ever heard is that there was a god from an old religion named something LIKE easter…

But thats like saying every one named Jesus is the son of God simply because they have the same name…

Or that Church of Christ denominations are the first denomination because the bible says we must be members of the Church of Christ…

terribly sad…

dishearteningly sad…

:crying:



IN Christ

Thank you,
You gave me some really good help here. I was just floored when she said that. Now maybe next time I’ll be a bit more prepared

 

[Harpazo]

Thank you,
You gave me some really good help here. I was just floored when she said that. Now maybe next time I’ll be a bit more prepared

According to my pastor, bunnies and eggs were once Christian symbols. The bunny represents Christ leaping forth out of the grave when it gets down really low and springs up. The eggs represents the grave and how new life came from Christ’s grave.

In fact, tradition holds that St. Mary Magdalene was walking one day with a basket of eggs and came across a group of men walking past her. She stopped and shared with them about Jesus and the eggs turned blood red. The men became Christians. That why we paint eggs, but only red!

Al-Masih Qom!

Alaha minokhoun
Andrew

 

[deb1]

Symbols are not static. They can mean whatever we choose for them to mean. A bunny rabbit can symbolize whatever I choose for it to. The symbols don’t have magically significance.

You have to understand that extreme fundamentalists look for Satan in EVERYTHING. I am so thankfully that I have been delivered from this mindset.

Anything that smacks of paganism is considered equal to Satanism according to fundamentalists. The problem is that they don’t apply the rules evenly. Christianity did not invent society from scratch.

Wear a wedding band? Invented by pagans.

Enjoy living in a republic? Pagans invented the concept.

If I am not mistaken the early Christian males wore skirts not pants. It was pagans who wore pants. So, start wearing a kilt.

The list could go on and on and on.

You did right by walking away. It is difficult to change this type of mindset because it is so ingrained in the person. Plus it is comfortable in an odd way. The rules are all laid out nice and neat.

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

???

Easter originally a pagan holiday???

(not talking about easter bunny easter)

So. where is it, or was it ever pagan.

1. Holy week occurs in conjunction with Passover…
2. Holy Thursday is specifically to remember the last super, the garden, etc
3. Good Friday is the day he gets crucified
4. Resurrection Sunday remembers, well, his resurrection

the time of year s known, unlike Christmas…
The events surrounding are know…

It’s like saying July the 4th is a pagan Egyptian holiday because… well because… No evidence…

If you want to complain about easter bunnies and egg hunts… ok fine whatever… but to say Easter was at one point pagan???

I’m in complete shock… and at the same time terribly saddened groups of Christians actually believe…

The closest I have ever heard is that there was a god from an old religion named something LIKE easter…

But thats like saying every one named Jesus is the son of God simply because they have the same name…

Or that Church of Christ denominations are the first denomination because the bible says we must be members of the Church of Christ…

terribly sad…

dishearteningly sad…

:crying:



IN Christ

Don’t get so upset. You can find many articles on the internet that speak of this.

Here’s one:
witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=1991

I’m not defending paganism or making the judgment that Easter is pagan as we celebrate it today. But, it’s clear that there are some pagan counterfeit holidays that mirror the Christian holidays and even witches acknowledge the similarities between the Christian holiday of Easter and the pagan holiday of Easter.

I’m not complaining about easter eggs, the bunny rabbits, etc. I’m a Christian and celebrated Easter yesterday with my family and went to Easter services.

Peace…

MW

 

[ArAnMike]

I would suggest you always go to certain websites for explanations and history, such as New Advent. This article explains that the English word for Easter has pagan roots, but the celebration is “the oldest feast of the Christian Church, as old as Christianity.”

I would also suggest that you look at Catholic.com. There is a good number of resources there to help as well.

 

[kim3260]

According to my pastor, bunnies and eggs were once Christian symbols. The bunny represents Christ leaping forth out of the grave when it gets down really low and springs up. The eggs represents the grave and how new life came from Christ’s grave.

In fact, tradition holds that St. Mary Magdalene was walking one day with a basket of eggs and came across a group of men walking past her. She stopped and shared with them about Jesus and the eggs turned blood red. The men became Christians. That why we paint eggs, but only red!

Al-Masih Qom!

Alaha minokhoun
Andrew

It wasn’t so much the bunnies and stuff, but more of the statement made that we, meaning Catholics and some Prostants, use a pagan day to “remember Jesus rising from the dead” where as they in their uppity way say “Everyday is Resurection day for real Christians”
This has been going on so long I can’t remeber, all I know is I’ve just had it, for decades I had to deal with why do my kids celebrate Halloween?, Why do I keep up my outdoor Nativity scene on after Dec. 26 when all Christmas stuff should come down?. Being asked a question, thinking they really would like to know about Catholics but their real reason is simply to show me where I am wrong
sorry need to vent

 

[kim3260]

I would suggest you always go to certain websites for explanations and history, such as New Advent. This article explains that the English word for Easter has pagan roots, but the celebration is “the oldest feast of the Christian Church, as old as Christianity.”

I would also suggest that you look at Catholic.com. There is a good number of resources there to help as well.

Thank you I will

 

[mschrank]

heehe, resurrection day- yep, this is how it was for me when I was a kid.

 

[brotherhrolf]

Whether we like it or not, most people of European ancestry are completely unaware that that ancestry is in reality Indo European and that at one point the gods and godesses of classical mythology were all one 5,000 + years ago. If you look at the languages spoken by Indo European peoples you will probably be able to understand things like numbers and the words for mother and father. Thus Eostre is Anglo-Saxon, Ostara is Germanic, Astarte is Middle Eastern. It sorely vexes me that our protestant bretheren cannot do the basic research which shows this to be the most likely explanation. There are volumes upon volumes about what the Indo European peoples believed 5,000+ years ago. There are volumes which compare the gods of the Hindus to the gods of the Greeks and the Romans to the gods of the Norse and Anglo-Saxons or the Irish. Right now here in Louisiana we have elected an Indian governor who is a Catholic. The media insists upon treating him as of some other race but he is as Caucasian as anyone else had anyone else done the research to note that Indians are Caucasians. Indo-Europeans.

How weak is your faith if you have to look for pagan or occult roots of every Christian holiday? HMC used the tool of religious syncretism wisely. That means where beliefs were similar, she co-opted them into the faith. St. Patrick used this concept and converted a people who brought Christianity back to the European continent.

Ultimately Easter is linked to Passover. How can you watch the Ten Commandments on TV and say that was pagan?

 

[Syele]

I admit I have gotten none too charitable on this one… I ask questions:

So since you worship on Sunday you are worshiping a pagan Sun god?
Last I checked, God made the bunny rabbits, the eggs, the chicks, and the rainbows too. Why have you decided to give Satan credit for those instead?

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

I’m not sure who you are referring to, Syele.

But, I personally don’t give Satan any credit for any of God’s creation. He is an imitator. It’s no secret that the Church enticed pagans by matching Christian holidays at around the same time as the pagans. There’s another thread that has a quote from a pope about this.

I don’t think the modern day observance of Easter is Pagan. When Christians worship the risen Christ, it is Easter. When pagans celebrate the vernal equinox, fertility, etc, then they are practicing their form of Easter and the fertility goddess.

Polytheism predates the early Christian movement. So, it’s no surprise that Sunday is named after the sun god, Thursday after Thor, etc. It is what it is.

Peace…

MW

 

[Syele]

I’m not sure who you are referring to, Syele.

But, I personally don’t give Satan any credit for any of God’s creation. He is an imitator. It’s no secret that the Church enticed pagans by matching Christian holidays at around the same time as the pagans. There’s another thread that has a quote from a pope about this.

I don’t think the modern day observance of Easter is Pagan. When Christians worship the risen Christ, it is Easter. When pagans celebrate the vernal equinox, fertility, etc, then they are practicing their form of Easter and the fertility goddess.

Polytheism predates the early Christian movement. So, it’s no surprise that Sunday is named after the sun god, Thursday after Thor, etc. It is what it is.

Peace…

MW

I talking about people getting on my case for celebrating Easter.

They say " You are worshiping a pagan Goddess not God cause it called Easter!" I say by the same logic they are worshiping the Sun god when they worship on Sundays. The two accusations are equally silly.

the second part is the silliness of saying I cant do anything with eggs on Easter cause eggs are a fertility symbol. and I can’t have a rainbow on anything cause it a symbol of being gay etc. God made those things FIRST. I will not boycott everything a pagan likes. That refusal to boycott it does not make me Pagan!

 

[ibkc]

A practice is only pagan if pagan meanings are attached to it. The celebration of the resurrection of Christ is hardly pagan. If the name of a pre-Christian festival remains, who cares? Even scholars and historians of the ancient Germanic tribes know very little about Eostre or what her worship entailed. She is gone; Christ remains.

 

[joshua1]

Well, I can say that everyday is resurrection day for Catholics too. Remember the Eucharist. Every time we celebrate the mass, and its happening at some place in the world every minute, then every minute is resurrection time. **Every time we participate in the celebration of the Eucharist we are remembering and sharing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. **The mass is Heaven on Earth. Read Scott Hahn’s great book, “The Lamb’s Supper.” All the Masses throughout the year flow from the Easter Vigil, so every mass is the celebration of the Lords resurrection. You know when these discussions pop up on occasion, I ask the question, “If you learned that the pagans were sacrificing goats on a Chevrolet, would you have to sell your vehicle and go buy a Ford?” BTW, hope everyone had a blessed Easter.

 

[deb1]

It wasn’t so much the bunnies and stuff, but more of the statement made that we, meaning Catholics and some Prostants, use a pagan day to “remember Jesus rising from the dead” where as they in their uppity way say*** “Everyday is Resurection day for real Christians”***
This has been going on so long I can’t remeber, all I know is I’ve just had it, for decades I had to deal with why do my kids celebrate Halloween?, Why do I keep up my outdoor Nativity scene on after Dec. 26 when all Christmas stuff should come down?. Being asked a question, thinking they really would like to know about Catholics but their real reason is simply to show me where I am wrong
sorry need to vent

What they are implying is that just because we have a holiday to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection then we don’t remember him on other days. Do I forget my children because I set a day aside for their birthday? Do I forget God because I only go to church a certain number of days? Really when you think it through, their logic is faulty.

By the way, you might ask why they don’t push to change the days of the week, after all weren’t some of them named after pagan Gods?

 

[oneGODoneCHURCH]

While I don’t hold with those that say Easter is a pagan Holiday. I was reading in the Missal the for the Tridentine Mass that the name easter if from the pagan goddess who festival was in th spring. I have found that eggs were a symbol of hers. Also that the easter bunny came from the Egyptian god of fertility which was a hare. who festival was also in the spring time.

Now then we as Christians honor this day as the day of the resurrection of the Lord Christ. If a few pagan tidbits coloring eggs and bunnies came along for the ride who cares. at one time or another every day was used by some pagan for something.

 

[mark_a]

All my life, as a Catholic in the Bible Belt, I thought I heard it all.
But this one tops them all.
Last week I nicely wished a store person a “Have a Happy Easter” I was informed that she does not celebrate a that pagan holiday, that everyday is Resurection Day for her. Following that she went on about it and another two people piped in on it, and then the anti-Catholic stuff started and I am embarassed to say, that I just grabbed my buggy and walked away because I had no come back I really did not know how to repond, That is why I am here asking you all what do I say next time?
When this this happen? I notice still many of the Baptist churches, which this person is, had a sunrise service, the Methodist and Espiscolian as well had its services, so not all believe this.
I understand when the atheist with their refusal to celebrate Christian Holidays, but when Christians do this, I am at a loss.

These folks claim some spiritual superiority by disowning Easter.

Others do it by “calling no man father” or avoiding graven images.

Still others claim superiority with their weekly Saturday holy day.

The list goes on and on.

Big fat hairy deal. None of the above seem like they require any effort at all. If these are their claim to superiority, so be it.