How do Christians feel about the fact that Easter and Christmas are Pagan celebrations?

Question

Interesting how defensive some become...

To the others: Thanks.

I guess it doesn't matter really what the celebration was intended for as long as one celebrates what one believes and the intention is Light, Love and Peace.

Answer 1

They are also Christian holidays so it doesn't bother me at all.

Answer 2

The thing is that most all holidays, not just CHristmas and Easter have Pagan beginnings. Paganism starts with a reverence to Nature. What's wrong about that??

Easter, CHristmas, Groundhog's Day, Valentine's Day, St Patrck's Day, May Day, Veterans Day, Halloween, etc. Are all associated with Pagan HOlidays and other celebrations.

It's something virtually inescapable.

Answer 3

The dates and some of the traditions, e.g. the Christmas Tree, the Easter bunny are pagan. However, my church celebrates the birth and Resurrection of Christ and most of us don't care when during the liturgical year we celebrate these important events. By the way our Easter, because I am Eastern Orthodox, is a different day as the "western" Easter and is called Pascha, meaning "passover" in Greek and we follow a lot of the Jewish festal cycle.

Answer 4

Easter is not a pagan celebration. The English-language word (and the English language Christians alone) has an unfortunate tie to an earlier pagan time of year. But Christianity was already 600 years old when Augustine of Canterbury brought it to the Isles, and the Paschal feast (what we call Easter) also centuries old. The cleric the venerable Bede tells us that he adapted the name of one of their spring festivities (Eostre) for this already ancient Christian celebration. As I said, this is an English-language issue alone, and not of general importance to Christendom at large.

In all other Latin-derived languages, the feast in question uses a derivative of the Hebrew "Pesach" (Passover.)

In Greek it is Pascha. In French it is Paques. (Pronounced 'pack'). In Portuguese, Pasqua. Starting to get the picture?

Easter is a commemoration of Jesus' crucifixion on Passover in the year 33 A.D. Here are the traditional church services of the Triduum.

Maundy Thursday - commemoration of the Last Supper
Good Friday - Passion narrative
Easter Vigil on Saturday - sections of the entire Bible are read, culminating in the lights being turned on and the gospel of the Ressurection proclaimed.
Sunday: The ressurection, beginning with a sunrise service.

... now colour me biased, but that all sounds.... fairly Christian to me. Is it really just me? Because I really don't see too many Pagans doing the whole passion narrative thing on Good Fridays. But hey... maybe it is just me.

As to Christmas, a lot of people seem to misunderstand what it is. In the time when Romans celebrated Saturnalia, Christmas was a feast day at church - now feast day means this:

- the priests wear special robes (red ones in the case of Christmas.)
- special texts are read in the liturgy, usually bible readings related to the theme of the feast
- the prayers of consecration, the pre-kyrie prayers, the doxology, are all adjusted slightly to tie into the theme.
- The "feast" aspect of it means "communion", not a party. People took communion.

Here's what Christians in the Roman empire did NOT do:

- Give gifts (came a thousand years later, when St. Nick's day got merged into it by Dutch protestants.)
- Put up Christmas trees (came a thousand years later in Germany)
- Put up stockings (tied to an event in St. Nicholas' life, see above)
- Sing Christmas carols (the ones we know are all a thousand years younger than these times)
- Drink eggnog (wasn't invented yet)

...Christmas is NOT (and was never intended to be) Christ's literal "birthday." It is the date chosen on the liturgical calendar to have a feast of the kind described above. Christians chose Dec. 25. Saturnalia was the Solstice, Dec. 21 - its hard to see what kind of tie you believe there to have been.

In short, don't believe all the baloney you read on some advocacy or pop-religion website. Learn some actual history, and you will be well served in discussions of these kind.

As to my long efforts being characterized as "defensiveness", I'd prefer to use the word "accuracy." Nobody is well served by the historical distortions that have surfaced in the last few decades.

Answer 5

Pagans don't celebrate Easter nor Christmas, they only love themselves.

Answer 6

True christians do not touch what is unclean and tainted.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
1 Corinthians 15:33

Thus avoid such celebrations.

Scripture is priority then reasonings of men.

Answer 7

It don't bother me to be honest cause when they roll around they have a different meaning for me when its Easter I celebrate Jesus' resurection (sp? lol) and Christmas I celebrate his birth even though its prolly more like Sept. when he was born!

Answer 8

I know this already and i don't celabrate Christmas or Easter.I am a Christian and i am aware of other false doctrine also,"sunday worship","calling a preast father","the tithe going into a building instead of to the widow's and orfans",ect.

Answer 9

we dont feel anything about it, cuz we know ALL about its history and if you ever go to church you would know what we are celebrating and the real reason for the seasons..

Answer 10

Should my family and I stop enjoying these celebrations just to please you?

This I believe;
http://homelessheart.com/testimony.htm