Act 12:4

[UsagiTsukino]

Passover or Easter? Many have stated Passover and Unleavened breads are treated the same so is Easter really pagan or something else?

[neo-x]

I think the roots of easter celebration are quite pagan, so is christmas...many who observe closely the jewish festivals may say its a carry over but historically that is simply not true. Today this makes sense but in the day and age it was not so. There is nothing in the N.T which suggests that the early church held these holidays...that came later.

[UsagiTsukino]

http://taylormarshall.com/2011/04/does- ... igins.html

[PeteSinCA]

One thing to keep in mind about some claims of pagan roots is that "Easter" is English (and possibly Germanic). Latin languages - and Christianity came to Latin-speaking regions around the Mediterranean before coming to Germanic and British lands - use a form of the Latin word for "Passover" (which was probably a transliteration from the Hebrew or Aramaic word for that festival). Thus, in Spanish, "Feliz Pascua," means, "Happy Easter." So all the silliness - just being bluntly honest - about Easter = Ishtar and Easter being Babylonian pagan falls apart when one looks at other languages in areas to which Christianity came before coming to Germanic and British lands.

But, more importantly, what are Christian believers in churches that observe Easter commemorating and honoring? The Babylonian goddess Ishtar? The Egyptian god Osiris? Of course not! They are honoring Jesus' death and resurrection.

[PaulSacramento]

We need to understand that we Christianity became the predominate religion in pagan areas, certain customs we retained and "Christianized", much like the ritual water purification rites became Baptisms ( and baptisms were a form of the mikveh).
Easter is a very Christian thing, only Christians celebrate the resurrection the way we do.
That some customs got associated with it is, well, human nature.
I do think that the easter bunny and easter eggs is a very silly thing though.

[SeekingSanctuary]

Wasn't baptism a Jewish custom? I know the Essenes did it.

[neo-x]

We need to understand that we Christianity became the predominate religion in pagan areas, certain customs we retained and "Christianized", much like the ritual water purification rites became Baptisms ( and baptisms were a form of the mikveh).
Easter is a very Christian thing, only Christians celebrate the resurrection the way we do.
That some customs got associated with it is, well, human nature.
I do think that the easter bunny and easter eggs is a very silly thing though.

Paul, I am not saying easter today is not christian...simply that it has no true christian roots. It was imported into the christian culture. That it wasn't originally christian to begin with.

[PaulSacramento]

We need to understand that we Christianity became the predominate religion in pagan areas, certain customs we retained and "Christianized", much like the ritual water purification rites became Baptisms ( and baptisms were a form of the mikveh).
Easter is a very Christian thing, only Christians celebrate the resurrection the way we do.
That some customs got associated with it is, well, human nature.
I do think that the easter bunny and easter eggs is a very silly thing though.

Paul, I am not saying easter today is not christian...simply that it has no true christian roots. It was imported into the christian culture. That it wasn't originally christian to begin with.

If you mean MODERN day celebrations have some pagan influences then yes BUT the celebration of the resurrection of Christ IS a Christian thing 100%.

[Gman]

We need to understand that we Christianity became the predominate religion in pagan areas, certain customs we retained and "Christianized", much like the ritual water purification rites became Baptisms ( and baptisms were a form of the mikveh).
Easter is a very Christian thing, only Christians celebrate the resurrection the way we do.
That some customs got associated with it is, well, human nature.
I do think that the easter bunny and easter eggs is a very silly thing though.

Paul, I am not saying easter today is not christian...simply that it has no true christian roots. It was imported into the christian culture. That it wasn't originally christian to begin with.

Neo is actually correct on this one... Celebrating easter is not a Biblical.. Celebrating Pesach is however.

[UsagiTsukino]

Here is what I found

Anyway, the point I am trying to make here is that, yes, Ishtar was associated with fertility and sex. However, her symbols were the lion, the gate and the eight-pointed star; I can’t find any evidence of eggs or rabbits symbolically belonging to her. And Easter has nothing to do with her.

Most scholars believe that Easter gets its name from Eostre or Ostara, a Germanic pagan goddess. English and German are two of the very few languages that use some variation of the word Easter (or, in German, Ostern) as a name for this holiday. Most other European languages use one form or another of the Latin name for Easter, Pascha, which is derived from the Hebrew Pesach, meaning Passover.

[UsagiTsukino]

http://bellejar.ca/2013/03/28/easter-is ... -tell-you/

[PaulSacramento]

http://bellejar.ca/2013/03/28/easter-is ... -tell-you/

One thing I have noticed is that people that are against religion ( Christianity typically) will pretty much accept anything you tell them that makes Christianity look bad and they won't even source it.
Easter and Christmas are two favorite targets of this.

[UsagiTsukino]

IS there any other proof for Easter