TheMadame:
The pagan roots of Easter
Heather McDougall
From Ishtar to Eostre, the roots of the resurrection story go deep. We should embrace the pagan symbolism of Easter
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E aster 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.
Dionysus was a divine child, resurrected by his grandmother. Dionysus also brought his mum, Semele, back to life.
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. What is interesting to note here is that in the ancient world, wherever you had popular resurrected god myths, Christianity found lots of converts. 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 – how pagan is that?
All the fun things about Easter are pagan. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of
Eostre , a great northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. Exchange of eggs is an ancient custom, celebrated by many cultures. Hot cross buns are very ancient too. In the Old Testament we see the Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it. The early church clergy also tried to put a stop to sacred cakes being baked at Easter. In the end, in the face of defiant cake-baking pagan women, they gave up and blessed the cake instead.
Easter is essentially a pagan festival which is celebrated with cards, gifts and novelty Easter products, because it's fun and the ancient symbolism still works. It's always struck me that the power of nature and the longer days are often most felt in modern towns and cities, where we set off to work without putting on our car headlights and when our alarm clock goes off in the mornings, the streetlights outside are not still on because of the darkness.
What better way to celebrate, than to bite the head off the bunny goddess, go to a "sunrise service", get yourself a sticky-footed fluffy chick and stick it on your TV, whilst helping yourself to a hefty slice of pagan simnel cake? Happy Easter

an enlightened lady

Achirimma:
All of you claiming Easter is biblical, let's have 2 or 3 bible quotations where it was mentioned or referred to.

Didn't Christ die n resurrect on the third day? If u agree he he did, then wah other reference r u looking for.

saintmark88:


Nd u u know wah u r worshipping

lol. Oh yes I do. And am not deceiving myself about it. You are still yet to bring up a reasonable defence for your God.

Achirimma:


Lol...He can also agree to worship idol on earth here and it will be agreed in heaven too. A lot of people are just ignorant and many are going to hell because of all these pagan festivals rooted in idolatry.

Lol I tell u. Tupac said. That's just the way it is. Things will never be the same. In the long run the brainwashed will have their field day. While the minority hold the real knowledge and use it to control them

saintmark88:


Didn't Christ die n resurrect on the third day? If u agree he he did, then wah other reference r u looking for.

Please read Matt. 26

saintmark88:


Didn't Christ die n resurrect on the third day? If u agree he he did, then wah other reference r u looking for.

were in the Bible is easter made mention of.. Simple English. It should not be to hard to answer

iamord:
lol. Oh yes I do. And am not deceiving myself about it. You are still yet to bring up a reasonable defence for your God.

I worship Jehovah the Father n his son Our Lord Jesus Christ n the Holy Spirit n m not deceiving myself about it, y shud I bring up a reasonable defence to u, I dnt owe u ny defence.............

Lildondou:
. U can't see a counter thread. U can only see sentimental wailing of ppl who cannot defend their beliefs from God's word d bible- the constitution of Christians.

Defend my belief? To U? I dont need to. I just choose to believe the way I want to. Maybe you can show me 1 proof of God's existence? Since U know the best ways to worship him and how He wants to be worshipped. . .

saintmark88:


I worship Jehovah the Father n his son Our Lord Jesus Christ n the Holy Spirit n m not deceiving myself about it, y shud I bring up a reasonable defence to u, I dnt owe u ny defence.............

don't get yourself all twisted of the last time I remember you were making a defence for the accused easter

iamord:
were in the Bible is easter made mention of.. Simple English. It should not be to hard to answer

Okay your problem is with the word 'Easter'..... It's not in the Bible ....so Tht makes it wrong... I c....buh I'll agree with you if only ull show me a reference where d word 'bible' is mentioned in the Bible??

THONZE:
You would have said Jesus did not die na. What sort of thing is this? Please do not alter our christain faith like a catalyst...... Jesus died for us on a friday,,rose on the third day...... CHIKINA,,FINITO,,NO ARGUEMENT..... Happy Easter pals....

In essence, you should celebrate every friday(death) and every sunday(resurrection).

iamord:
don't get yourself all twisted of the last time I remember you were making a defence for the accused easter

Easter is a celebration of the resurrection of my d son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ....

saintmark88:


Okay your problem is with the word 'Easter'..... It's not in the Bible ....so Tht makes it wrong... I c....buh I'll agree with you if only ull show me a reference where d word 'bible' is mentioned in the Bible??

uhmm. U are digging deep innit.
I like that. Let me educate you a bit the Bible was VOTED to be the word of God by a group of men during the 4th century.
According to Professor John Crossan
of Biblical Studies at DePaul
University the Roman Emperor
Constantine the Great (274-337 CE),who was the first Roman
Emperor to convert to Christianity,
needed a single canon to be agreed
upon by the Christian leaders to help
him unify the remains of the Roman
Empire. Until this time the various
Christian leaders could not decide
which books would be considered
"holy" and thus "the word of God" and
which ones would be excluded and
not considered the word of God.
Emperor Constantine, who was
Roman Emperor from 306 CE until
his death in 337 CE, used what
motivates many to action - MONEY!
He offered the various Church
leaders money to agree upon a
single canon that would be used by
all Christians as the word of God.
The Church leaders gathered together
at the Council of Nicaea and voted
the "word of God" into existence. The Church
leaders didn't finish editing the "holy"
scriptures until the Council of Trent
when the Catholic Church
pronounced the Canon closed.
However, it seems the real approving
editor of the Bible was not God but
Constantine! This fact is revealed in
the second counter-rebuttal to Brian
Show's first rebuttal to this article.
This counter-rebuttal makes the
following important statement and
backs it up with FACTS - "Therefore,
one can easily argue that the first
Christian Bible was commissioned,
paid for, inspected and approved by
a pagan emperor for church use." a cocooned tree cannot grow bananas. Man know thyself

saintmark88:


Easter is a celebration of the resurrection of my d son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ....

I am interested in worshipping too if only you can elaborate on its origins so I can gain understanding

Look at all the cursing and negative comments. Religion has drawn Nigeria more backward than forward and the painful thing is that none of it originated from our country. Just look at those that gave them to us. . .

thorpido:
Lol,even the commentators were not there.People just comment about a book they were not witnesses to its compilation and say God did not write it.

You're badly laughable...

FBS:

Me thinks this is so uncalled for. The essence of the thread is NOT a contest of who can 'pee higher on the wall' nor a comparison of any kind. Say something meaningful or siddon somewhere.

the point am tryin to make here is that christians are found of invading musslim threads and causing trouble which is uncvalled for! U guys shud talk to urselves!u knw what am talking about! If u don't then I will give u proof!

I know this man,a very amiable man. He has a christian center,where he preaches to people in Vi then,he does not receive offerings in his service. He has a point,but gullible Nigerians take what the white man tell them hook,line and sinker without researching history.

iamord:
I am interested in worshipping too if only you can elaborate on its origins so I can gain understanding

I dnt care about it's origin, I worship God through faith, I believe in the church Cos it is body of Christ, nd Christ the head, As far as it is a celebration tht gives Glory to God, then by faith I believe tht at Easter I celebrate the resurrection on my Lord Jesus Christ. You tht talks about it's origin, my question for you is were you born den, u only talk because of wah u av read, foolish is the man that believes all tht he reads,...........Christains worship through faith...... Not origin

Femi Aribisala should not be taken serious. You can learn how to write a good article from him. The contents of his article should not be taken serious. That is Femi for you. Different folks with different strokes

The White man has succeeded in putting the black man into confusion...
Africa has refused growth because of religion

NOETHNICITY:
the point am tryin to make here is that christians are found of invading musslim threads and causing trouble which is uncvalled for! U guys shud talk to urselves!u knw what am talking about! If u don't then I will give u proof!

Still not relevant. Next one please.

Bianda24:
Femi Aribisala should not be taken serious. You can learn how to write a good article from him. The contents of his article should not be taken serious. That is Femi for you. Different folks with different strokes

And why exactly? There is nothing written there that cannot be readily found on the internet. He did not just discover the Americas.

After doing a little research of/on my own, I figure calling it Resurrection Sunday makes more sense and that we will celebrate. Jesus is Lord.

God help us all.

sckulboy:
if jesus is God,who did he pray to?
if d 1st law out d 12 comandment state dat ur God is 1 den aw com d trinity in God?
after risin 4rm d death he left to wia?
n y did he left 4 wat purpose?
did mari give birth to anoda child after jesus?
if yes who mari d wife of God?
plz read d Bible

Let me ask, do you even read the Bible? Did the Bible ever mention Mary as God's wife? Was Mary not Joseph's wife and did Joseph not even accept Jesus and treat him like a son? If you read the Bible you will know Mary gave birth to other children with Joseph. You will know about the trinity when you read the Bible. It is ONE GOD existing in THREE different forms-father,son and holy spirit. Do you expect God to have the same power as the normal human? If you read the Bible you will know where Jesus said I am going to prepare a place for you and where he charged His disciples to preach to the world before he comes back. Yes he went back to Heaven where he belongs

Thats for you....

Sunnycliff:
Go and sit down Femi! If you don't want to celebrate you don't disabuse the minds of people! Its just a remembrance of the resurrection day of our Lord Jesus Christ! We Pray to God through his son Jesus Christ and not to any fetish god!

the man is very correct. Jesus only ask us to do the communion as his remembrance. 1 corinthians 11:24.

saintmark88:


I dnt care about it's origin, I worship God through faith, I believe in the church Cos it is body of Christ, nd Christ the head, As far as it is a celebration tht gives Glory to God, then by faith I believe tht at Easter I celebrate the resurrection on my Lord Jesus Christ. You tht talks about it's origin, my question for you is were you born den, u only talk because of wah u av read, foolish is the man that believes all tht he reads,...........Christains worship through faith...... Not origin

Bastardized dogmatism... saying you don't care about its origins says a lot about you...

Godswillnwaoma:
1.Easter celebration is not based on the bible.

2. Jesus Christ commanded we should commemorate his death and not his resurrection. Luke 22:19,20

3. The origin of Easter which comes from fertility rites, makes Easter unacceptable to God.

Jehovah's witnesses all around the world does not celebrate Easter .

Christianity don suffer

Ayomikun37:
Bastardized dogmatism... saying you don't care about its origins says a lot about you...

U are not God, u can call it whatever u like, I call it faith, n there's nothing u can do to stop d millions of Christians who celebrate d resurrection of Jesus Christ, GLory must be given to God, for saving us from death n given us the gift of eternal life, so at d end of the day, it is what I celebrate at heart, tht is what God sees, not origin......no one can undo wah has been agreed by the church, it was celebrated bfre u were born n it still wud b celebrated after u die, so take a chill pill n stop deceiving pple....dnt border quoting me nymore Co's u nt important

Chrixtopha:
Lucky you that this is new age because by now you would have been beheaded for heresy..... now i believe that not every one that can write, read and even update are alive, some are walking dead....Femi you are already a dead man to be reasoning like this...happy Easter to you all jare

BASTARD... Terrible devil. Why not behead him then? What a slowpoke...

saintmark88:


U are not God, u can call it whatever u like, I call it faith, n there's nothing u can do to stop d millions of Christians who celebrate d resurrection of Jesus Christ, GLory must be given to God, for saving us from death n given us the gift of eternal life, so at d end of the day, it is what I celebrate at heart, tht is what God sees, not origin......no one can undo wah has been agreed by the church, it was celebrated bfre u were born n it still wud b celebrated after u die, so take a chill pill n stop deceiving pple....dnt border quoting me nymore Co's u nt important

Go fu<k yourself...

Godswillnwaoma:
1.Easter celebration is not based on the bible.

2. Jesus Christ commanded we should commemorate his death and not his resurrection. Luke 22:19,20

3. The origin of Easter which comes from fertility rites, makes Easter unacceptable to God.

Jehovah's witnesses all around the world does not celebrate Easter .

Jehova witnesses do not take the holy communion. So we shouldn't because they don't.

They don't celebrate birthdays

They don't celebrate Christmas

They don't believe in he'll fire.

That is their opinion what's yours?