Easter is Pagan

Easter is a pagan holiday that has morphed its way into Christianity. It was originally a holiday to the fertility goddess Astarte. You may remember her as Diana of Ephesus in the book of Acts. Rabbits are notorious for breeding and fertility, hence the Easter bunnies. Let’s look into the details a little.

Easter Sunday is supposed to be the day Christ was resurrected, right?

“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.” (John 20:1)

It was still dark and Christ was already resurrected when the Hebrew women arrived at the tomb on the first day of the week. So much for those sunrise services.

Consider the Timing

Who remembers historical events by the days of the week? The biggest events are recorded by a calendar date. July 4th, 1776, September 11, 2001, your children’s birthdays, the day people die, etc., etc. Think about tombstones. Do they say “Here lies John Doe. Born February 28th, 1902. Died on the second Monday of March.” No of course not.

The same holds true with the Messiah’s death. Per prophecy, it had to be a calendar date for His death and subsequent resurrection. Christ was crucified on Abib 14 of the Hebrew calendar. He died as the Passover Lamb. This is an annual observance in the bible which happens at dusk on Abib 14 every year. The commandment specifically says “on the 14^th day of the first month.” This means He was crucified on an annual observance recorded as a calendar date, not a day of the week.

We know from Jesus’ prophecy about himself referencing the prophet Jonah that He had had to be in the tomb for three days and three nights. This is easy to reckon when we use Abib 14 as the date of His death. Just add 14+3 and we arrive at His resurrection date, 17 Abib. That’s easy to understand and much more in line with how we remember important events.

So Many Questions

Why change it to Sunday and call it Easter? One can really only speculate. Easter was a pagan holiday kept in the Anglo parts of Europe, so it was probably grafted in by the people and then sanctioned by the clergy. Or perhaps anti-Semitic forces wanted to get rid of the Hebrew nature of our Messiah. This would make losing the Hebrew calendar association attractive. Who knows? But today, with all of the information we have available, it is quite easy to see that Easter is pagan and has no place in a Bible-believing household.

Let’s examine how the word Easter made it into the Bible. First, let’s start with the actual command Christ gave us to keep in memory of Him:

‘And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;  for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”‘ (Luke 22:15-20)

Jesus commanded His followers to observe the night before Passover in remembrance of Him. These events happened the night before Passover, so our congregation observes the Night Jesus was Betrayed on Abib 13 every year in order to keep the commandment He gave us.

“And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)  And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” (Acts 12:3-4 KJV) [The parenthesis are in the KJV, I didn’t put them there.]

The word being translated “Easter” in verse 4 of the KJV is “Pascha” which is the Greek word for Passover. Verse 3 proves it is a reference to Passover because Passover is the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12). Easter is a single day, but “after the Passover” is a reference to Passover and the entire week of the Days of Unleavened Bread. Saying they wanted to apprehend him after Easter makes no sense in a Jewish context because they would have no respect for the observance of a fertility goddess.

Instead of keeping Easter, which is a pagan holiday, to remember Christ, why not do what He actually told us to do? That’s to keep the Passover each year, not to celebrate a pagan holiday.

This is a very basic look at Easter and why it’s not biblical. I encourage readers to use legitimate sources to search out the history of Easter, such as history.com or any other reliable reference tool.

For instructions on what we are supposed to do to observe the death of the Messiah, please read Passover for Christians – First Century Christianity