Is Easter really a pagan holiday that predates Christianity?

Question

I heard that in a sermon last Sunday. Does anyone have any evidence to back this up, or links to do further research? I don't think God would approve of me celebrating a pagan holiday.

Answer 1

yep. christianity is not an "original" religion.

Answer 2

yes and no

See the truth is you can find a Pagan or simular holiday on just about every day of the year.

So, yes there probably is a Pagan holiday on the same day or very close to it.

However just because it is a Pagan holiday doesn't mean it can not be a different religions holiday also.

Pretend that you were born on Feburary 14 (aka Valentines day). Does this mean that your birthday is less your birthday or does it mean you stole your birthday from Valentines day? The obvious answer is no. This is the same with Easter.

Easter for the Christians is Jesus rising from the dead. Does a previous holiday make this event any less of an event?

However there is 1 and only 1 Christian holiday that was mad patly to do with other religions. Today this holiday is not even considered a Christian holiday, however it was the Christian church who made this holiday up. Can you name it?



Halloween

Answer 3

Yes. Eostar... a celebration dedicated to Ishtar... a Goddess. You can always do a search on Pagan and Easter. It later was combined with spring rites due to the Church combining with certain practices of the Pagans when Christianity first became a legal religion in Rome. The celebration today is most likely not like the pagan celebration outside of coloring eggs (I'm sure you're not thinking of getting pregnant when you do that), the symbols of rabbits (also a fertility symbol... not hard to guess that one, huh?), etc.

Answer 4

Yes, it is true. Many of the holidays we celebrate have Roman pagan origin. Through time, Christians have "adapted" the holidays to fit their beliefs even though the original meaning of the holidays may have focused on fertility, sex, weather, and the like. Many choose not to celebrate certain holidays, but just because Christians are now celebrating a holiday tailored for their religion does not mean they are converting to paganism
The Romans influenced our calendar, justice system, and even the way children are punished. It's difficult to avoid Roman influence in our culture without denial. It's not a matter of whether or not God approves. The question is whether or not you're serving more than one God.

Answer 5

Yes. I can't remember what King it was, but he took the throne and had to combine Christianity and Pagan beliefs. Easter is still a Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Christ, it just happens to also celebrate to god or goddess of fertility (note the eggs and bunnies) I don't think there is anything wrong with celebrating Easter, because YOU are choosing who you praise, God of the Christians, or Gods of the pagans. Your choice.

Answer 6

Yes, it was, and so was pretty much every Christian holiday now celebrated. I suspect God is ok with this, as it is the nature of people to learn form eachother. It also isn't as though you're actually worshipping Ishtar when you celebrate Easter. (Her name is where we get the name for the holiday.) The Saxons also celebrated Easter in the form of Ostara, although it is probable that the goddess Ostara whom the Venerable Bede told of either didn't exist, or was a long ago memory of Ishtar from contact with the Middle East. We get the fertility aspects of the holiday (eggs, bunnies) from the Saxon practices. One should remember that they were doing this well into the Christian era, so I don't think you should feel too bad about that, either.

For study of Ishtar, a Babylonian goddess, and other pre-Christian, middle Eastern influences on Christianity, this is a great place to start:http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/sum/index.htm

And this is a great place to continue: http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/

Answer 7

Yes, it is...actually almost all "Christian" holidays get their roots from the Celitic branch of paganism. Here are some examples.
Easter=Ostera, also known as the spring equinox. Ostera is the Goddess of resurrection/rebirth. We get the Easter Bunny from her myth...this little bunny wanted to produce a gift to the Goddess Ostera for her giving of Springtime. He went around and collected beautiful eggs in a basket and presented it to her, she was so pleased with the bunnies gift that she made him "guardian" and herold of the Spring.
Feast of All Saints=opposite for Halloween/Samhein. When the Catholic Church was trying to get off the ground in the pagan British Isles they took many of the sacred images of Samhein and made them "demonic"...the crone by her rebirth cauldron, the fact that the veil between the two worlds are the thinnest, and so on and so forth. The day after Samhein used to be St. Micheals Day, but there was just too much "demonic" activity for one St. to handle, so they changed to All St. Day inorder to combate the evil that was released by the pagans on Samhein/Halloween.
Christmas=Yule, other wise known as the winter solstice. Yule was the celebration of the birth of the Sun God...further elaboration is obvious.
And the list goes on and on...Christian/Catholic Holidays almost always match up with a Celitic Pagan Holiday. And yes, the Celts, which were a germanic tribe and also the Picts, were around; and their holidays, long before Christianity.
Google Pagan/Christian Holidays...you'll learn alot.

Answer 8

Lol .. your very confused. although like even christmas (which has pagan attributes as well) Easter is not a pagan holiday it is a christian one with christian meanings.. now the pagans did celebrate the winter solstice (christmas) and something around the time of easter but they were different holidays..

in order to aid the spread of christianity some bishops, priests etc. had christian holidays coincide with pagan ones to make the religon more palpable to the masses..

in other words its not the rituals or the timming of these holidays that make it a holiday. it is the intent and meanings behind it. ie christmas we celebrate Jesus birth. and Easter we celebrate his battle over death.

Answer 9

Beyond the fact that Easter is the Holy Day associated with Christs
martyrdom, the holiday took on tones of the pagan religions of Europe. Case and point. The egg is a fertility symbol. the easter bunny is another fertility symbol.

Answer 10

The traditions and dates are certain. Easter is called after Ostara, an Anglo-Saxon fertility goddess. Eggs were symbols of fertility and spring because the sunrise of time. In Babylon, they dipped the eggs in blood to colour them. in the course of the Spring competition eggs were rolled over the fields to develop the probabilities of the plant life. The hare replaced into also a sort of fertility....for obtrusive causes. Easter at present is Christian although. in common words Christians are celebrating the Ressurection of Jesus. even as different traditions are pagan, which I see no damage in yet i'm a pagan so what do i know, the CONTEXT of the holiday is in common words Christian. it really is elementary adequate to diminish out the pagan traditions and nevertheless shop the Holy Tide.

Answer 11

OSTARA (pronounced O-STAR-ah) is one of the Lesser Wiccan Sabbats, and is usually celebrated on the Vernal or Spring Equinox right around March 21 (although because of its origins, may instead be celebrated on the fixed date of March 25). Other names by which this Sabbat may be known are Oestara, Eostre's Day, Rite of Eostre, Alban Eilir, Festival of the Trees, and Lady Day. The Christian holiday of Easter is very near this same time, (notice the similarity in name?), and is determined as the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox.

The name for this Sabbat actually comes from that of the Teutonic lunar Goddess, Eostre. Her chief symbols were the bunny (for fertility and because the Ancient Ones who worshipped her often saw the image of a rabbit in the full moon), and the egg (representing the cosmic egg of creation). This is where the customs of "Easter Eggs" and the "Easter Bunny" originated.

Ostara is a time to celebrate the arrival of Spring, the renewal and rebirth of Nature herself, and the coming lushness of Summer. It is at this time when light and darkness are in balance, yet the light is growing stronger by the day. The forces of masculine and feminine energy, yin and yang, are also in balance at this time.

At this time we think of renewing ourselves. We renew our thoughts, our dreams, and our aspirations. We think of renewing our relationships. This is an excellent time of year to begin anything new or to completely revitalize something. This is also an excellent month for prosperity rituals or rituals that have anything to do with growth.

In the Pagan Wheel of the Year, this is the time when the great Mother Goddess, again a virgin at Candlemas, welcomes the young Sun God unto her and conceives a child of this divine union. The child will be born nine months later, at Yule, the Winter Solstice.

For Wiccans and Witches, Ostara is a fertility festival celebrating the birth of Spring and the reawakening of life from the Earth. The energies of Nature subtly shift from the sluggishness of Winter to the exuberant expansion of Spring. Eostre, the Saxon Goddess of fertility, and Ostara, the German Goddess of fertility are the aspects invoked at this Sabbat. Some Wiccan traditions worship the Green Goddess and the Lord of the Greenwood. The Goddess blankets the Earth with fertility, bursting forth from Her sleep, as the God stretches and grows to maturity. He walks the greening fields and delights in the abundance of nature.