Easter is commonly understood to be a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The date for it is set as the Sunday immediately following the fourteenth day of the paschal (Passover) moon, which happens on or after the vernal equinox. However, as is explained in the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (Vol. 2, p. 682), "The present variable time [for fixing the date of Easter] was appointed by early Romanism in amalgamation with the very ancient pagan spring festival to the goddess of the spring."
The resurrection of Christ occurred the Sunday following the fourteenth of Nisan. Unlike Christmas, we can be fairly certain that we are celebrating our Lord’s triumph over death on its approximate anniversary date. A complication arises when we discover that the pagan festival to the goddess of spring was also celebrated at the same time. This leads us to question whether Easter has not been corrupted by considerable pagan baggage. Abundant evidence supports the fact that the Greco-Roman church tended to amalgamate idolatrous rites into the Christianity they were introducing to heathen cultures. The philosophy was that non-Christians would be more likely to embrace Christianity if they were allowed to retained their pagan practices, especially if some Christian correspondence with their traditions could be established.
One need only investigate the name Easter. W. E. Vine writes, "The term Easter is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven" (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, entry "Easter" loc. cit.). The Chaldean Semeramis, the wife of Nimrod, was the original impersonation of the "queen of heaven," the goddess of spring. The Babylonians called her Ishtar. To the Canaanites she was known as Astarte. She is Venus of the Greeks, Aphrodite of the Romans, and Ashtoreth of the Zidonians. These all represent fertility and were worshipped in the spring as new life burst forth after the death grip of winter. Hastings Encyclopedia on Religious Ethics describes these ancient Easters as "spring feasts . . . marked with great sexual license".
Lent is also of Babylonian origin. The English word Lent comes from the Saxon Lenct, meaning "spring." It represents a period of mourning for Tammuz, the supposed reincarnation of Semeramis’ husband, Nimrod, whose death and reappearance was celebrated in the spring. Forty days of mourning preceded the one day of joy over the return of Tammuz. God condemned Israel’s partaking in this celebration: "And He said to me, ‘Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.’ So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz" (Ezek. 8:13-14, NKJV). How has Satan so cleverly corrupted the truth!
The question before us remains. Should Christians celebrate Easter? Certainly no one, especially Christians in our day, would associate chocolate bunnies with the vile and sensual rites of ancient fertility cults. However, I believe that we must look deeper. First, do our customs distract us from the real message? It is certain that the world will use any tactic to deflect attention from Christ and His truth in order to avoid dealing with sin. Are believers not helping them by indulging in these seemingly innocent though unauthorized additions? Further, in our increasingly pagan culture, where the Lord is summarily dismissed and substituted by Santa and the Easter Bunny, are we not compromising our Lord by partaking in these inane diversions?
However It is important, as a friend has reminded me that even though events may happen at the same time,Valentines day and Lupercalia come to mind
it is important to remember to celebrate for the right reasons while trying to avoid pagan customs. Rather then say Happy Easter which omits God,and what he did for us
we should celebrate "Resurrection" Day.
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