Easter: Pagan? Biblical?
His Comments
Her Comments
Thoughts:
This month we decided to talk about Easter. Instead of a specific set of passages, my wife and I decided to focus more on the holiday / event. I decided to address a topic I see online every year around this time, is Easter a pagan holiday? Short answer, No.
Longer answer, a few videos online like to point out that Easter comes from the celebration of pagan deities like Ishtar or Ostara. They point out that the name “Easter” even came from the name Ishtar, Ishtar -> Easter. We discover the truth when we look at the credibility of the sources they are using. For example, Easter is the Christian celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The name Easter does not come from Ishtar, as those videos would have you believe, because it is only called Easter by Germanic languages. In non-Germanic languages, it is often called Pascha, from the Jewish celebration of Passover.
Another claim is Easter only came about because of celebrations to the spring goddess Ostara. This, however, is also false. The earliest source associating Easter with Ostara comes from the seventh century by the English monk St. Bede. Apart from that, there are no other credible sources, Christian or pagan, that connects Easter to Ostara. The name “Easter” comes from the fourth month of the Old English calendar, Eosturomonath. Eosturomonath, which was shortened to Easter, was used because the holiday often fell within the fourth month. How the original calendar came up with those names may have been related to pagan deities, but that does not make the holiday we celebrate a celebration of that deity. Also, the earliest evidence I could find of Christians celebrating Easter (or Pascha) dates to the mid-second century (150-170 A.D.) The writings reference Christian’s celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Bunnies and eggs, clearly Easter is celebrating something pagan! Short answer, Nope! The first instance to the “Easter bunny (hare)” I could find was mid-sixteenth century. Originally it was a hare and not a bunny. That bunny (hare) was not linked to paganism until the 19th century by a folklorist. The decorating of eggs appears to have come about in the 13th century by Edward Longshanks, King Edward the First, when he had eggs hardboiled and decorated to hand out during the Easter season.
So, when we celebrate Easter, are we celebrating paganism? No. We celebrate Easter to give praise and thanks to our LORD, for His death and resurrection, and for the forgiveness of our sins when we put our belief and faith in Him. We can also include searching for eggs, getting baskets of candy, and eating peeps in the shape of bunnies because it is fun to do. Doing so does not take away from the true meaning, which is Christ. We do not worship the holiday; we celebrate with a holiday to give thanks to our Lord and Savior.
My focus for this month’s Easter devotional is kids and family. Is it OK to celebrate, as a family, with egg hunts, candy baskets, and visiting the Easter bunny? Yes! All of this is OK so long as we do not lose focus of why we are celebrating, Jesus. We celebrate Easter in remembrance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. When we take communion, we do so in remembrance of the suffering Jesus went through on the cross, so we may have eternal life. To paraphrase 1 Corinthians 15, if the resurrection did not happen, our faith is in vain and we are still dead in our sins. Thankfully, He is LORD even over death, and believers do have eternal life through His completed work on the cross.
As a teacher, I can tell you that Kids’ imagination and innocence are not what they used to be. Children are watching more unboxing videos and reality TV than they are watching shows like Reading Rainbow and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. Access to see sinful and anti-Christian content is a touch screen away. All this said, kids today are not exercising their sense of wonder and amazement like generations past.
For example, this year I was teaching my 7th-grade ELA class about Imagery. I told them to close their eyes, try to picture what the poet was describing in the poem I was reading, and then draw a picture of it on a piece of paper. One kid raised his hand and said, “Mrs. Theis, that is illegal.” I asked him why, and he said, “It is called plagiarism. I am not allowed to do that.” After I stifled the laugh in my head and explained to the class that this is what they are “supposed to do,” the kids tried to draw the picture that I described. This was very difficult for them. We read Mr. Nobody (Author unknown).
This is why traditions and childhood wonderment are so important. Kids need a chance to believe and invent. They need to be able to hang on to that childlike wonder but doing so while giving praise and glory to God. Ecclesiastes 11:9 points to us having proper enjoyment of life when we do so within the boundaries established by God, and one of the ways we can do that is by celebrating Him and the blessings He provides. That may come in the form of Easter egg hunts at the church, enjoying baskets of jellybeans and chocolate eggs left by the “Easter bunny,” or making smores with left over marshmallow Peeps!
I would also like to talk about family traditions. When we think back to the happiness of childhood, we probably remember family events and traditions we participated in. I remember the vinegar and fizzy, dissolving tablets my mom would create for my brother and me to dye eggs. We would use crayons to draw pictures on the eggs, and then with bendy wire, we would dip the eggs until they achieved their desired color. I also remember waking up to find baskets full of fake crass, which NO ONE likes to deal with. I remember camping one Easter (it was Arizona where the weather was much more agreeable!) and the wild animals ate all our eggs. More than anything, I remember doing this with family. Psalm 128:3 reminds us to have fellowship with family.
The main thing to remember is that Jesus needs to be the center of the Observance. Just like Christmas, kids need to know why we celebrate Easter and why we do the traditions we do (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). We just need to make sure we do not make an idol of Santa or the Easter Bunny (Deuteronomy 5:7). Have fun and enjoy the blessings God provides. Make the celebrations part of a lesson about Jesus, His resurrection, and the empty tomb. Love God, love family, make traditions, and do not eat too many jellybeans!
God Bless.