The origin of the word "Easter"

[latin_rite]

Origin of the word "Easter"
The Oxford English Dictionary reads, “Easter. The name is derived from Eostre, the name of a goddess whose festival was celebrated at the vernal equinox; her name shows that she was originally the dawn-goddess.”
*Compton’s Encyclopedia *reads, “Our name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honor.”
Academic American Encyclopedia reads, “According to the Venerable Bede, the name Easter derived from the pagan spring festival of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre.”

Customs incorpoarated into Easter
The Catholic Encyclopedia declares, “A great many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring gravitated to Easter.”
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Christianity … incorporated in its celebrations of the great Christian feast day many of the heathen rites and customs of the spring festival.”
*Compton’s Encyclopedia (1978) *declares, “Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals.”

**Rabbit - ***The Catholic Encyclopedia *reads, “The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”
*Encyclopedia Britannica *reads, “The Easter hare came to Christianity from antiquity…and so a symbol of fertility and of the renewal of life.”

**Easter Eggs - **
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewal of life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival.”

The New Question Box - Catholic Life for the Nineties, copyright 1988 by John J. Dietzen“The reasons for celebrating our major feasts when we do are many and varied. In general, however, it is true that many of them have at least an indirect connection with the pre-Christian [pagan] feasts celebrated about the same time of year — feasts centering around the harvest, the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice (now Dec. 21, but Dec. 25 in the old Julian calendar), the renewal of nature in spring, and so on.”

The early church of the New Testament for over a hundred years celebrated the actual week of Passover as the time that Jesus died and rose from the dead as the scriptures say.

So why the incorporation of pagan customs? To make it easier for the pagan gentiles to convert to Christianity. They were allowed to keep the festival of Easter as long as they tied it to the resurrection of Christ. Later Pope Gregory affirmed it in a letter to Augustine.

In 597 AD Pope Gregory sent to Augustine a letter of wise advice. Do not destroy the temples of the English gods, he said; change them into Christian churches. Do not forbid the harmless customs which have been associated with the old religion; consecrate them, like the churches, to Christian uses.

O well if the dictionary says its true it must be. Someone needs to remind me of where they talk about the rabbit or where they mention the egg at Easter mass.Only time the Easter rabbit and Easter eggs are mentioned at my Church is for fun activities for the kids.
Again. I will be calling it Easter for a long time to come. Because the word Easter has nothing to do with the pagan gods. Not even in origin. Like i said i won’t be brow beaten by pagans into changing my ways. Especially when they are in the wrong. I hope they don;t come across a pagan god that has a name like Christmas. Or i suppose people will change Christmas to happy birthday…day

 

[latin_rite]

I appreciate all the posts on this Thread. I have struggled with the word Easter, reading many different origins and meanings of the word. I even refused to attend an Easter service, because it was called “Easter.” Eventually, I abandoned all iconography, even the cross. I stopped putting up a Christmas tree, because of its pagan origins. After a few years of these rigid beliefs; I began to feel isolated–not just from other Christians; but from Christ Himself.

I think we can take things too an extreme, forgetting the mercy of our Lord, and His power of consecration—making that which is unholy into something Holy and acceptable to God.

I have abandoned those extremist beliefs. In Christ, bread and wine become His body and blood. In Christ, the sinner is made a living sacrifice to God. Surely, He can sanctify the residual traces of paganism.

I tend to agree with Pope Gregory on this one.

In Christ,
Anna

Whats wrong with Christmas trees? Christmas trees are totally Christian. Pagans use to paint pictures of their gods. So should we stop painting pictures of Jesus etc? Humans decorate things or create works of art. Either in memory or in honour of something/ someone. We even do it for fun. We even use to do it, long before we had religious understanding. What the pagans did was nothing new. Not as if we discovered decorating or art work Because we discovered religion. Tell me. When Americans celebrate the 4th of july using fireworks. Are they celebrating the birth of their nation or Chinese new years?

 

[prodromos]

Whats wrong with Christmas trees? Christmas trees are totally Christian. Pagans use to paint pictures of their gods. So should we stop painting pictures of Jesus etc? Humans decorate things or create works of art. Either in memory or in honour of something/ someone. We even do it for fun. We even use to do it, long before we had religious understanding. What the pagans did was nothing new. Not as if we discovered decorating or art work Because we discovered religion. Tell me. When Americans celebrate the 4th of july using fireworks. Are they celebrating the birth of their nation or Chinese new years?

Christ is risen!

Pagans got married in their temples, had religious services, prayed together to their gods, celebrated special religious events, etc.
look at all the stuff we would have to toss out of christianity simply because pagans used to do it

John

 

[Le_Cracquere]

You can really start overthinking these things, and a little grounding in philology puts certain things into perspective.

Does anyone think that the Germanic word that is the origin of Modern English “God” originally referred to Y - - H of the Old Testament? No–it was very late in the word’s history that Anglo-Saxons used “god” to refer to anyone other than Woden, Tiw, Thor, or other heathen entities. Should scrupulous Christians ditch it, then, and coin some term other than the pagan-tainted “God”?

One can follow this kind of logic up one’s own hinder very quickly. Happy Easter.

 

[Mr_Skeptic]

Origin of the word "Easter"

The Oxford English Dictionary reads, “Easter. The name is derived from Eostre, the name of a goddess whose festival was celebrated at the vernal equinox; her name shows that she was originally the dawn-goddess.”
*Compton’s Encyclopedia *reads, “Our name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honor.”
Academic American Encyclopedia reads, “According to the Venerable Bede, the name Easter derived from the pagan spring festival of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre.”

Customs incorpoarated into Easter
The Catholic Encyclopedia declares, “A great many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring gravitated to Easter.”
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Christianity … incorporated in its celebrations of the great Christian feast day many of the heathen rites and customs of the spring festival.”
*Compton’s Encyclopedia (1978) *declares, “Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals.”

**Rabbit - ***The Catholic Encyclopedia *reads, “The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”
*Encyclopedia Britannica *reads, “The Easter hare came to Christianity from antiquity…and so a symbol of fertility and of the renewal of life.”

**Easter Eggs - **
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewal of life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival.”

The New Question Box - Catholic Life for the Nineties, copyright 1988 by John J. Dietzen“The reasons for celebrating our major feasts when we do are many and varied. In general, however, it is true that many of them have at least an indirect connection with the pre-Christian [pagan] feasts celebrated about the same time of year — feasts centering around the harvest, the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice (now Dec. 21, but Dec. 25 in the old Julian calendar), the renewal of nature in spring, and so on.”

The early church of the New Testament for over a hundred years celebrated the actual week of Passover as the time that Jesus died and rose from the dead as the scriptures say.

So why the incorporation of pagan customs? To make it easier for the pagan gentiles to convert to Christianity. They were allowed to keep the festival of Easter as long as they tied it to the resurrection of Christ. Later Pope Gregory affirmed it in a letter to Augustine.

In 597 AD Pope Gregory sent to Augustine a letter of wise advice. Do not destroy the temples of the English gods, he said; change them into Christian churches. Do not forbid the harmless customs which have been associated with the old religion; consecrate them, like the churches, to Christian uses.

O well if the dictionary says its true it must be. …

That, plus the vast historical and archeological record, makes it a reasonable assumption.

 

[latin_rite]

That, plus the vast historical and archeological record, makes it a reasonable assumption.

Those things you mention have nothing to do with Easter. Like i said rabbits Easter eggs etc. Aren’t mention at my Church during Easter mass. The only time is for entertainment value for the kids. I don’t know what its like at your Church. A b.t.w. Santa doesn;t get a mention either during Christmas services.

 

[Anna_Scott]

I appreciate all the posts on this Thread. I have struggled with the word Easter, reading many different origins and meanings of the word. I even refused to attend an Easter service, because it was called “Easter.” Eventually, I abandoned all iconography, even the cross. I stopped putting up a Christmas tree, because of its pagan origins. After a few years of these rigid beliefs; I began to feel isolated–not just from other Christians; but from Christ Himself.

I think we can take things too an extreme, forgetting the mercy of our Lord, and His power of consecration—making that which is unholy into something Holy and acceptable to God.

I have abandoned those extremist beliefs. In Christ, bread and wine become His body and blood. In Christ, the sinner is made a living sacrifice to God. Surely, He can sanctify the residual traces of paganism.

I tend to agree with Pope Gregory on this one.

In Christ,
Anna

Whats wrong with Christmas trees? Christmas trees are totally Christian. Pagans use to paint pictures of their gods. So should we stop painting pictures of Jesus etc? Humans decorate things or create works of art. Either in memory or in honour of something/ someone. We even do it for fun. We even use to do it, long before we had religious understanding. What the pagans did was nothing new. Not as if we discovered decorating or art work Because we discovered religion. Tell me. When Americans celebrate the 4th of july using fireworks. Are they celebrating the birth of their nation or Chinese new years?

latin_rite,

I think you misunderstood my post. I have abandoned the extreme views I once held, and agree with shawn38’s post:

. . . . .The early church of the New Testament for over a hundred years celebrated the actual week of Passover as the time that Jesus died and rose from the dead as the scriptures say.

So why the incorporation of pagan customs? To make it easier for the pagan gentiles to convert to Christianity. They were allowed to keep the festival of Easter as long as they tied it to the resurrection of Christ. Later Pope Gregory affirmed it in a letter to Augustine.

In 597 AD Pope Gregory sent to Augustine a letter of wise advice. Do not destroy the temples of the English gods, he said; change them into Christian churches. Do not forbid the harmless customs which have been associated with the old religion; consecrate them, like the churches, to Christian uses.

Anna

 

[guanophore]

Christ is risen!

I’ve heard this claim made many times but have never seen any evidence presented proving that this was indeed the thinking of the Church. Have you any evidence?

John

newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm

The present writer in inclined to think that, be the origin of the feast in East or West, and though the abundance of analogous midwinter festivals may indefinitely have helped the choice of the December date, the same instinct which set Natalis Invicti at the winter solstice will have sufficed, apart from deliberate adaptation or curious calculation, to set the Christian feast there too.

Natalis Invicti. The well-known solar feast, however, of Natalis Invicti, celebrated on 25 December, has a strong claim on the responsibility for our December date. For the history of the solar cult, its position in the Roman Empire, and syncretism with Mithraism, see Cumont’s epoch-making “Textes et Monuments” etc., I, ii, 4, 6, p. 355. Mommsen (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, 12, p. 338) has collected the evidence for the feast, which reached its climax of popularity under Aurelian in 274.

This article in the Catholic Encyclopedia is a brief and superficial treatment, but a good orientation to the factors.

 

[guanophore]

O well if the dictionary says its true it must be. Someone needs to remind me of where they talk about the rabbit or where they mention the egg at Easter mass.Only time the Easter rabbit and Easter eggs are mentioned at my Church is for fun activities for the kids.
Again. I will be calling it Easter for a long time to come. Because the word Easter has nothing to do with the pagan gods. Not even in origin. Like i said i won’t be brow beaten by pagans into changing my ways. Especially when they are in the wrong. I hope they don;t come across a pagan god that has a name like Christmas. Or i suppose people will change Christmas to happy birthday…day

But you can see from these sources how people do get that idea.

 

[latin_rite]

latin_rite,

I think you misunderstood my post. I have abandoned the extreme views I once held, and agree with shawn38’s post:

Anna

No i understood. It was more of a i see your point question.

But you can see from these sources how people do get that idea.

Absolutely. I even was thinking it, until i did a little research,

 

[jmcrae]

You lost me with the whole “east” thing. What’s the point of saying happy east? Why would Christians be focused on that word for pascha?

Because of the Mass of the Dawn on Easter morning, in which the whole congregation would be facing into the rising sun - East.

*“When I fall down on my knees, with my face to the rising sun, Oh, oh, Lord, have mercy on me!” *

 

[Anna_Scott]

No i understood. It was more of a i see your point question.

Oh, O.K. Guess we’re good.

Anna

 

[Mr_Skeptic]

Those things you mention have nothing to do with Easter.

The origins of the celebration were occurring long before the Christian version. It was incorporated and morphed into a Christian celebration much later. The specifics were changed to meet Christian requirements, but, there’s no getting around the fact of its Pagan origins.

Like i said rabbits Easter eggs etc. Aren’t mention at my Church during Easter mass. The only time is for entertainment value for the kids.

That may be true, but that’s an after-the-fact, add-on to Easter. We’re talking about the origins of the celebration.

A b.t.w. Santa doesn;t get a mention either during Christmas services.

Yet, “Christmas” trees are mentioned in the Bible ~ in a prohibitive way, forbidding people from ornately decorating trees like the Pagans did. But, that’s a topic for another discussion.

 

[jmcrae]

The origins of the celebration were occurring long before the Christian version. It was incorporated and morphed into a Christian celebration much later. The specifics were changed to meet Christian requirements, but, there’s no getting around the fact of its Pagan origins.

The celebration of Christ’s Resurrection has never been a pagan celebration. it dates back to the first century. Different communities celebrated it at different times of the year and even on different days of the week. The timing of Easter became standardized at the Council of Nicea, I think.

Yet, “Christmas” trees are mentioned in the Bible ~ in a prohibitive way, forbidding people from ornately decorating trees like the Pagans did. But, that’s a topic for another discussion.

The earliest date for Christmas trees is at some point during the mid-1500s, when Lutherans in Germany began using them as reminders of eternal life.

There is a reference in Scripture that forbids the painting of carved wooden idols; is that what you’re thinking of?

 

[latin_rite]

The origins of the celebration were occurring long before the Christian version. It was incorporated and morphed into a Christian celebration much later. The specifics were changed to meet Christian requirements, but, there’s no getting around the fact of its Pagan origins

.

Really? could you name a couple?

That may be true, but that’s an after-the-fact, add-on to Easter. We’re talking about the origins of the celebration.

Please explain. Don;t really understand what you’re getting at. Because a lot of people are using Easter eggs/rabbits as evidence that somehow Easter is a pagan rite.

Yet, “Christmas” trees are mentioned in the Bible ~ in a prohibitive way, forbidding people from ornately decorating trees like the Pagans did. But, that’s a topic for another discussion.

So Christmas trees are mentioned in the bible? Don’t recall anyone saying to Jesus. " hey Jesus! Look at the tree i made in honour of your birthday". I believe someone said something about decorating trees in the bible. And that it depends in what way you honour that tree. As to whether or not it’s a bad thing. Sort of like. If you decorate a tree just for the sake of making it look pretty, then its harmless. But if you decorate the tree in order to honour some dead beat pagan god then it isn’t. Even the bible recognized peoples natural instinct to decorate things. Only pagans/idiots seem to think that decorating,painting etc is something humans only came up with because of paganism.

 

[Mr_Skeptic]

The celebration of Christ’s Resurrection has never been a pagan celebration.

Agreed.

The specifics changed to suit that purpose, but, Easter celebration in general, was celebrated by Pagans long before Christ came along. What a remarkable coincidence that the Christian version of Easter, just happens to generally coincide with the Pagan version of Easter.

 

[jmcrae]

Agreed.

The specifics changed to suit that purpose, but, Easter celebration in general, was celebrated by Pagans long before Christ came along. What a remarkable coincidence that the Christian version of Easter, just happens to generally coincide with the Pagan version of Easter.

What on God’s green earth is “the pagan celebration of Easter”?

 

[Mr_Skeptic]

There is a reference in Scripture that forbids the painting of carved wooden idols; is that what you’re thinking of?

Not at all.

I’m thinking of Jeremiah 10:1-4.

 

[jmcrae]

Not at all.

I’m thinking of Jeremiah 10:1-4.

Yes - this is in reference to carved wooden idols (“worked with an axe by an artisan” - we are talking about something like a totem pole, here), and has absolutely nothing to do with the Christian custom of Christmas trees.

 

[Mr_Skeptic]

*“1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.” * - Jeremiah 10:1-4