A.C.Pike
Introduction
Easter is the time of year where children go on Easter egg hunts, woman wear Easter bonnets, and people (both young and old) eat hot cross buns and chocolate eggs. The Easter bonnet parades is a time when people compete in the best hat competition to win prizes. The hot cross buns that are eaten are round with the sign of the cross on top. The chocolate sold in the shops at Easter is either in the shape of an egg, or a rabbit.
It is also the time of year where the church remembers/celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is a time of reflection where Christians remember what the Lord did for them by dying on the cross for their sins. This is when the churches light advent candles to mark the time of the year, and to count down the days to this celebration. It is also a time of fasting called, ‘Lent.’ This is when people give up (abstain) some of their favourite food in honour of the time Christ fasted in the wilderness.
However, to the surprise of many, the festival that we know as Easter wasn’t observed until the 4th century CE. It is in this period that the date for Easter was set by the church. Prior to this, the early Jews had observed the Pashca (the Jewish festival of unleavened bread) in the 2nd and 3rd centuries which some Christians had adopted and followed.
Bonnets
The Easter bonnet parade is an old traditional that dates back many centuries. In the parade people wore different styles of hats in order to impress the competition. There were also prizes for the best hat. The tradition of wearing these hats were adopted by the church, and it was soon common practice for the woman of the congregation to wear different types of hats to church. But where did the practice of wearing these hats at Easter come from?
The Cutting Edge website makes this statement, “The priests (Druid) would wear their best clothes, while the Vestal Virgins would wear newly-made white dresses. They would also wear headgear, like bonnets, while many would adorn themselves in garlands of Spring flowers. They would carry wicker baskets filled with foods and candies to offer to the pagan gods and goddesses.” (1).
So as we can wee, this practice can be traced back to pagan druids.
Easter
Have you ever wondered where the name ‘Easter’ came from? Most people think that the word Easter is a name used for a Christian festival, maybe derived from the Greek word for ‘Eucharist’, but what a lot of Christians don’t realise is that this word has it’s roots in mythology. In fact, to the surprise of many the word is a name of a heathen goddesses.
The ‘ISB Encyclopedia’ wrote, “Historians have traced the origin of the word Easter to the Scandinavian word ‘Ostra’ and the Germanic ‘Ostern’ or ‘Eastre’. Both of these derive from the names of mythological goddesses of spring and fertility, for whom festivals were held at the time of the Spring Equinox.” (2).
So as we can see, the word ‘Easter’ is not Christian in origin. The etymology of the word is derived from Scandinavia and refers to a fertility goddess.
Eggs
Easter eggs are one of the main aspects of Easter. Chocolate companies around the world make mass productions of chocolate eggs fo
With regards to Easter eggs, C.J.Koster wrote, “”Easter” was not only goddess of dawn but also goddess of spring with all its fertility-symbols and fertility-rites…. which included eggs and rabbits.” (3).
As we can see, the dawn and spring goddesses are symbolised by the egg. It was believed that when spring came, new life also came. It is from the egg that life originates, so the egg was used as a fertility symbol. As Christians, would we want to use a fertility symbol that was used to symbolise fertility in honour of goddesses?
Goddess
Who is the goddess Ishtar? According to the bible the Babylonian goddess Ishtar is non other than Ashtoreth (also known as Astarte) who was one of the enemies of Jehovah God.
Collier’s Encyclopedia has the following entry about Ishtar, “Ishtar… the most important goddess of the Sumero-Akkadian (Babylonian) pantheon. Ishtar was equated with the planet Venus. As goddess of physical love (sex), she was patron of the temple prostitutes. Throughout Mesopotamian and Babylonian history she was worshiped under various names in many cities….Astarte of Phoenicia was the offshoot of Ishtar of Assyria. To the Hebrews, this abomination was known as Ashtoreth or Ashtoroth.” (4).
This goddess who is an enemy of God was venerated every Easter time. She was worshiped by both the Babylonians and Assyrians (the enemies of the Jews). The worship of Ishtar (Ashtoreth) was in direct violation of the God’s law.
Good Friday
Good Friday itself is pagan. The word, ‘Friday’ comes from ‘Frigg’s Day.’ Frigg was a Norse goddess who was the wife of Odin. (5) So, as we can see, Good Friday as it’s roots in Norse folklore.
Hot Cross Buns
It is at this time of year the shops start to sell ‘hot cross buns.’ Both Christians and non-Christians alike buy these buns to eat. There are various different reasons to why people buy them. The Christian does it to show honour to Christ, whereas the non-Christian buys them to partake of the Easter festival. But where did these buns originate?
Chambers’s Book of Days reads, “Our hot cross buns at Easter are only the cakes which the pagan Saxons ate in honour of their goddess Eastre…” (6).
Not only this, but the raisins represent the ‘stars’ in the sky and the ‘cross’ is a symbol of the Babylonian god, Tammuz. Also, Easter was seen as the festival of Tammuz.
Why would a Christian want to eat something that is used to honour the false deities Eastre and Tammuz?
Ham
One of the traditions at Easter is to eat ham. Ham is eaten because in the story of Tammuz the shepherd, he was killed by a boar one day in the field. So in honour of Tammuz and how he died, the eating of ham was introduced into the festival of Easter.
Ex-witch turned Christian, David. J. Meyer said, “Ishtar also proclaimed that because Tammuz was killed by a pig, that a pig must be eaten on that Sunday. “ (7).
Also, on every blood moon pagans would sacrifice a swine which they would preserve to be eaten at a later date. This is in direct opposition to the holy sacrifices of the Jews where a lamb would be offered to Jehovah God . This represented Jesus Christ. So, as pagans throughout the ages sacrificed swine to their gods, the faithful Jews of old viewed swine as an unclean food. Eating pork at the same time of the Jewish passover (where the passover lamb represented Christ’s death) was seen as a mark of disrespect (Leviticus 11:17).
So, we can see that the eating of pork to mark Easter is a mockery of the sacrifice of the lamb of God, Jesus.
Lent
Lent is a time where Christians fast in remembrance of the time that Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. It is when Christians abstain from their favourite foods as an act of piety towards God. The period that Lent is observed is a period of forty days. But where did the idea of forty days come from?
Rev. Alexandra Hislop in his book ‘The Two Babylons’ wrote, “Coming from the Anglo-Saxon Lencten, meaning “spring,” Lent originated in the ancient Babylonian mystery religion. “The forty days abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshipers of the Babylonian goddess…Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz…” (8).
The word, ‘Lent’ is derived from a Saxon word meaning, ‘spring.’ Spring is seen by the pagans as the inception of life. It is at this time that nature gives birth to various forms of life.
Also, the festival Lent is based upon a festival that celebrates the death and rebirth of the Babylonian god, Tammuz. When Tammuz died his wife Ishtar mourned him for forty days. This duration of the forty days of the Christian Lent has been taken from this festival (mourning) of Tammuz.
Rabbit
At Easter chocolate companies mass produce chocolate bunnies to be sold in shops to mark the festival of Easter.
In a similar way to the egg the rabbit is used as a fertility symbol. Because rabbits are prolific breeders they were used by many cultures as fertility symbols. Another reason why the rabbit is used at Easter is because in ancient mythology it was believed that the goddess, Ishtar (when she came down from heaven to earth) was guided by a bird who gave her safe passage. As a reward Ishtar turned the bird in to a rabbit.
Allen Butler makes this point, “In the ancient world, the rabbit has long been a symbol of fertility. The rabbit is known for its reproductive powers, in fact, even today, we talk of couples who have many children as “multiplying like rabbits”. Because rabbits are known to reproduce often. In fact our own lucky rabbit’s foot goes back to this ancient tradition. The rabbits foot – being a phallic symbol with supposed magical powers related to reproduction.” (9).
As Christians would we want to use the symbol (or purchase) chocolate rabbits at this time of year knowing that the rabbit was once used as a fertility symbol?
Sunrise Service
Most Traditional Churches face toward the east – which is the rising of the sun! This is how a lot of pagan temples were designed facing towards the rising of their sun deity, sol. A similar thing to this happened in the day of Ezekiel.
“And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S (Jehovah’s) house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD (Jehovah), between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD (Jehovah), and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east” (Ezekiel 8:16).
Why would any true Christian want to worship in a building that has it’s designs patterned after pagan temples?
Also, certain churches hold their Easter Service at sunrise. This is because the sun rises in the east. Remember the people in Ezekiel’s vision facing towards the east? Sunrise services are pagan! The New Book of Knowledge says, “The custom of a sunrise service on Easter Sunday can be traced to ancient spring festivals that celebrated the rising sun.” (10). So, as we can see, the origins of the sunrise services have their roots in sun worship.
Venus (Fish)
Christians avoid eating meat on a Good Friday, they eat fish instead. The thing is this, there is not one scripture that commands Christian to do this. In fact, abstaining from eating certain foods is a “doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). So, where did eating fish on a Good Friday come from? The day, ‘Friday’ used to be known as, Venus’ Day. It was on this day that this Roman goddess was honoured. Her symbol was the ‘fish.’ This is because she was the deity of love, and fish was a sign of fertility. (11).
Eating fish on a Good Friday is a Roman Catholic practice that has it’s origins in the worship of the goddess, Venus. As Christians we would want to refrain from this tradition.
The Bible’s view of Paganism
In light of the above – what is the bible’s view with regards to celebrating these pagan feasts such as Easter? Well, from studying the scriptures we can see that God gave strong admonish to the nation of Israel against the worship of false gods! In Exodus he said to the children of Israel that, “Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images” (Exodus 23:24). He gave Israel strict instructions ‘NOT’ to learn pagan ways, he said, “Thus saith the LORD (Jehovah), Learn not the way of the heathen” (Jeremiah 10:2). Further to these, the Apostle Paul warns the early Christian church with regards to giving praise to demons, he said, “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils” (1 Corinthians 10:21). So the bible is clear with regards to what God thinks of pagan festivals that bring honor to false gods. As Christians we cannot willing participate in any of the above knowing that they have their origins in paganism!
The bible is clear that we are not to pollute our Christian worship with other religions or pagan practices. The high-priest Aaron had made the “molten calf” (Exodus 32:4) and then declared the worship of it as “a feast to the LORD (Jehovah)” (Exodus 32:5). Aaron and the Israelites foolishly believed that as long as they honoured Jehovah with a feast, it would be alright to incorporate the worship (custom) of another god. However, as a result of their comprised form of worship to God, “THREE THOUSAND” people died that day (Exodus 32:28).
As we can see, we are not to pollute our worship to God with pagan. Do we as Christians want to pollute our worship of Jesus with that of man made tradition, occultism, and paganism?
Conclusion
Time and time again we are told throughout the bible that we are to worship one God only.
When the house of Israel had sinned against God by worshiping other gods, Samuel told them that, “If ye do return unto the LORD (Jehovah) with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD (Jehovah), and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 7:3). – So by worshiping other gods the Israelites had gone away from the LORD (Jehovah). To return to him they were told to “put away the strange gods” (v3).
When Jesus was tempted by the Devil in the wilderness, he responded with the following, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Luke 4:8). So, Jesus told Satan that it is God and God only that we should worship.
So as Christians should we not follow the examples of both Samuel and Jesus and “put away these strange gods” (1 Samuel 7:3) and “worship the Lord they God…only” (Luke 4:8).
References
All Bible quotations are taken from the ‘King James Version’ of the bible.
1) Occult Holidays and Sabbats, Cutting Edge.’
2) ‘The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia’, 1979, Volume 1, pages 319-320.’
3) C.J. Koster, ‘The Final Reformation.’
4) Collier’s Encyclopedia, 1980, Volume 15, page 748.’
5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigg
6) ‘Chambers’s Book of Days, 1879, Vol. I, p. 337.’
7) David. J. Meyer, ‘Last Trumpet ministries.’
8) Rev. Alexandra Hislop, ‘The Two Babylons.’
9) Allen Butler, ‘The Origin and History of the Easter Bunny.’
10) The New Book of Knowledge (1978).
11) http://www.letgodbetrue.com/bible/holidays/easter-problems.php
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