Easter is recognized in modern Christianity as the day upon which the faithful celebrate Christ’s miraculous resurrection. Yet, in celebrating this event millions will turn to the familiar image of the biogenetic oddity known as the Easter Bunny without so much as asking, “What does an egg-laying rabbit have to do with Christ?” Perhaps it’s time YOU asked that question.

Where Does Easter Come From Anyway?

Remarkably, the celebration of Easter, one of the most holy of Christian holidays, cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. In 1949 the Encyclopedia Britannica in its article on Easter stated the following regarding this day: “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic fathers.”

Is it strange that this important Christian observance is not mentioned in the Bible?

Yes, indeed, it is.

If you find the word Easter in your Bible, it’s actually a mistranslation that is noted in your Bible’s margin. Most recent translations of the Bible make the correction. The correct translations use the word Passover instead of Easter. The early Christian church, established in 31 A.D., followed Christ’s example and observed the Passover. Again, the Encyclopedia Britannica states: “The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians who continued to observe the Jewish festivals, though in a new spirit…” (see Leviticus 23 for an explanation of those festivals).

Now that we know the Easter tradition does not reveal the truth about Christ’s resurrection, perhaps we should uncover the truth of its origins.

To do so, it’s best to start with the name, Easter. Easter does have a religious meaning, but the religion is not Christianity. Instead, the word Easter is derived from an ancient Teutonic goddess of fertility named Estere whose feasts were celebrated in the spring by her pagan adherents. Typically, the Estere celebration occurred in April at which time the pagan goddess demanded sacrifices from her followers.

Going back even further into antiquity, Easter can also be traced to the ancient goddess Ishtar, and is associated with the deification of women goddesses in western religion up to and including the Catholic deification of Mary.

The pagan roots of Easter do not end with just the name, however. The symbols of rabbits and eggs can also be traced to pagan fertility celebrations. The use of the egg goes back to ancient Mesopotamia where it was closely identified with another goddess of fertility, Astarte. The following quote from the ancient Egyptian historian Hyginus explains the connection: “An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen from heaven into the river Euphrates. The fishes rolled it to the bank, where the doves having settled upon it, hatched it, and out came Venus, who afterwards was called the Syrian Goddess [that is, Astarte].” Some historians also claim that eggs were prominent in Egyptian temples and Druid springtime ceremonies.

The Easter Bunny can also be traced back to the Teutonic pagan celebration of Estere or Astarte. It is in connection with this festival that the pagan adherents looked to the hare as a symbol of fertility because of its prolific nature. During this celebration eggs were believed to have come from the hare as a symbol of a new, abundant spring.

If you’re wondering what Teutonic fertility goddesses have to do with Christianity, you’re not alone. Biblically, there are no connections. Therefore the question remains: Why does Christianity celebrate Easter? To understand this part of the history of Easter, one has to examine the early developments in modern Christianity.
 

The Passover Is the Passover just an historical, Old Testament observance, or is it also relevant for Christians today. Discover why the Passover holds deep significance for modern Christianity, and why it is an essential aspect of truly understanding Jesus Christ's sacrifice. [ Download PDF File | Order ]

The Early Church.

The early Church, to a large extent, was made up of Jewish converts. The first disciples of Christ were, of course, Jews; and the early adherents often first heard the gospel message in the synagogues (Acts 9:20-21). The story of how the gospel came to the Gentile world is well-rehearsed, and figures prominently in the Book of Acts. When the doors of the Church were first opened to Gentile converts, the early Church saw Christianity as being in harmony with the Old Testament. As such, the Old Testament holy days and the specific times at which they were observed were viewed as important and relevant to the “new” faith of Christianity. It wasn’t strange, therefore, that the early Church continued with the observance of Passover. It was not until later that the tradition of Easter developed among the Gentile converts.

Owing to a violent Jewish uprising crushed by Emperor Hadrian in 135 A.D., the Roman Empire began to enact laws especially hostile to the Jewish faith. As part of his retaliation against the Jewish rebels, Jerusalem was almost destroyed, and also renamed. Hadrian’s edicts following the destruction of Jerusalem banned the practice of Judaism, including the observance of its holy days, and prohibited Jews from setting foot in Jerusalem. As a result of this attempted destruction of the Jewish nation, the hierarchy of the early Church was decimated. The leaders of the Church in Jerusalem, up until that time, had been Jewish: fifteen men recorded in all, spiritually descended from the original twelve apostles. Banning the Jews from Jerusalem and from Roman society in general led to a change in the entire nature of the church…the congregations were now led by Gentiles, and were composed of Gentile converts.

We’re Not Jews!

The Gentile, unlike the Jew, came from a religious culture steeped in mysticism and was ignorant of the Old Testament scriptures. One historian summed up the difference between the ancient Jew and Gentile as this: “Gentile Christians usually came from a background devoid of Scriptural knowledge. They did not have a natural appreciation for, allegiance to, or comprehension of the Scriptures, especially the Law and Prophets which they misunderstood….” Origen, a famous Church leader of the third century, would go so far as to say that Greek philosophy was just as important to the Gentile as the Law was to the Jew in their understanding of the gospel message. A contemporary of Origen’s observed the following regarding those who advocated this approach: “…. they forsake the holy Scriptures of God, and study geometry, as may be expected of men who are of the earth, and speak of the earth, and are ignorant of Him that cometh from above. Some of them industriously cultivate the Geometry of Euclid; Aristotle, and Theophrastus, and are looked up to with admiration…”. The Christian Church’s theological roots in the Old Testament were being severed during this period: the Jewish leadership, influence, and theological perspective were slowly eliminated.

Clearly, by the beginning of the second century various “Christian” sects had begun to fuse Christian practices with pagan observances. New church leaders had taken the place of the old and taught Christianity in the tradition of Greek philosophy. It was during this time (135 A.D.) that the observance of Easter Sunday began and was set on a day coinciding with a day of religious significance in the pagan world. Sunday was observed in Roman religious society as the day of the venerabili die Solis, or venerable Sun. This gave the evolving pseudo-Christian religion greater appeal to potential pagan converts. It was the natural progression of a church whose roots were becoming more firmly planted in pagan, Hellenistic traditions, as opposed to Old Testament tenets.

Subtle desire to distance Christianity from Judaism gave way to overt anti-Semitism upon the official establishment of Easter as an accepted Christian holiday. Constantine “The Great,” the first Roman Emperor to embrace “Christianity” officially recognized the observance of Easter as a public religious and civil holiday in 325 A.D. Constantine’s decision to establish Easter was motivated not only by a desire to separate Christianity from the moorings of Jewish influence, but also out of his unapologetic hatred for the Jewish people. As one historian noted, “It was probably the Emperor’s passionate hatred of the Jews that decided the issue.” Quoting from a later letter issued by the Emperor, the point is emphasized in his own words: “It appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul. . . . Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd.”

The Quatrodecimen

Some early church members - the Quatrodecimen, so named for their adherence to the 14th of Nisan (Jewish calendar) as the correct day for Passover observance - resisted the adoption of the pagan Easter as a Christian day of worship. An early Christian Bishop, Polycarp, engaged in a famous debate with the then Bishop of Rome in defense of the apostolic and biblical tradition of keeping Passover. After Polycarp, another minister in Asia (Asia Minor) named Polycrates came to the defense of the Passover, and penned an eloquent defense of its observance, citing the history of believers back to the Apostles before him who had kept it:

“All of these kept the fourteenth day of the month as the beginning of the Pascal festival, in accordance with the Gospel, not deviating in the least by following the rule of the Faith. Last of all I too Polycrates, the least of you all, act according to the tradition of my family, some members of which I have actually followed; for seven of them were bishops and I am the eighth, and my family have always kept the day when the people put away the leaven. So I, my friends, after spending sixty-five years in the Lord’s service and conversing with Christians from all part of the world, and going carefully through all Holy Scripture, am not scared of threats. Better people than I have said: ‘We must obey God rather than men.”

After Polycrates, however, the proponents of Easter swallowed up most of what remained of the few adherents to the biblical tradition. Those who refused to convert were branded as heretics and had to flee persecution. Theythe Quatrodecimenwere the remaining organized shreds of what had been the church established in Jerusalem in 31 A.D. The church that sprang forth under the protection of the Roman civil system observed different days and a different theology.

Does It Matter?

The history of Easter is mired in ancient pagan custom, political compromise, and, in some respects, racism. But that’s just it…It’s all history. Irrespective of what happened then, today the celebration is centered on Christ, right? And that makes celebrating Easter okay, doesn’t it?

Well, not according to the Apostle Paul, who when addressing the Corinthian church emphasized the importance of following the correct observance of the Passover: “I praise you Brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions as I delivered them to you” (I Corinthians 11:2, KJV). Speaking again of the tendency of some to waver from the teachings of the Church, Paul issued a warning against such behavior: “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us” (II Thessalonians 3:6, KJV).

Clearly, Paul admonished the church to remain faithful to the teachings he delivered to them from Christ, including the observance of the Passover. The Apostles had taught the true doctrines of Christ along with the deep meaning of those observances to their congregations. It is clear the Church’s drift from the observance of Passover to the celebration of Easter was in contravention of the Apostles’ instructions, and a breach of the long tradition of observing the Passover that was rooted in the book of Exodus.

In Matthew 7:21-23 Christ draws a line between those who follow Him and those who only profess a belief in Him: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (KJV).

This Spring, when much of the Christian world celebrates Easter on a day that was consecrated by men through political intrigue, religious compromise, and racism, one must simply ask: “Will Christ have anything to do with such a celebration?” Perhaps an even more important question is: “Will He have anything to do with those who celebrate it?” Here is His response: “…in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). Clearly, the answer to both questions is “NO”. The celebration of Easter, instead of Passover, is a matter taken seriously by Christ; and true Christians should take it seriously as well.

Endnotes to this section:

Encyclopedia Britannica, 1949, vol. 7 pg. 859

James Orr et. al. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, (Michigan 1986), pg. 889

Samuele Bacciochi, How it Came About: From Passover to Easter Sunday (Abstract Summary of Earlier writings) at www.biblicalperspectives.org.

Eusebius , The History of the Church ,Penguin Classics (London, 1965)

Robert Evans, Biography of the Early Church, (London 1839)

Robert Grant, Augustus to Constantine: The Rise and Triumph of Christianity (New York, 1970)

Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, (Michigan, 1994)

John Julius Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium, Longitude, (London,1998)