Easter: Pagan or Christian?
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William Tyndale translated the following...
The usage in Tyndale's Bible included specific terms for our clarity such as:
Acts 12:4: "intending after ester to bring him forth to the people"
Luke 2:41: "the feaste of ester"
Mark 14:12: "paschall Lamb" and "Easter Lamb" in the same verse
1 Corinthians 5:7: "For Christ oure esterlambe is offered vp for us"
the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek.
it's an absurd logical fallacy to argue that because one translation was wrong, all wrong translations are right.
Yes, now that we have the NT scriptures that show us how Christ fufilled the Passover. There needs to be a distinction between old and new.
Of course not, neither would you delete the law because Christ fulfilled the law. It is there for our learning.
No, there is no need for such a distinction regarding Passover. It remains what it was; the difference is that now it has been fulfilled.
Again, your argument is circular.
Some of this may have been covered by other posters, but....
Many people, typically Christians of more fundamentalist oriented denominations, have been trying to connect Easter with Ishtar and Easter’s traditions with those of ancient Babylon and other pagan traditions for well over 100 years; since about the late 1800’s.
The simple truth is that “Easter” does *not* derive from “Ishtar” – this association represents a complete false etymology, and a completely fabricated origin.
To put it in the simplest terms possible, there is just absolutely no way historically, culturally, and particularly linguistically, to connect Ishtar with Easter….but that certainly has not prevented people from making some rather valiant and, in some cases, even impressive attempts.
Easter takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon month name in which it occurs; namely, Ēosturmônað which, in turn, is named for the West Germanic goddess of dawn (and possibly Spring, but *not* fertility), Ēostra/Ēostre.
It is crucial to realize that she has lent only her name to the holiday (and in a very indirect way at that) in exactly the same way that other Germanic deities have lent their names to our weekdays in English. There is nothing more “pagan” to it than that.
The etymology of her name comes from the Indo-European root word *hewsôs, meaning “to shine, glow red” - a reference to dawn. In Proto-Germanic, the name has been reconstructed as *Austrô-. To the early Germans, she was ‘Ostara’, from which modern German gets “Ostern” for Easter.
It is only amongst certain Germanic people where the Greek ‘pascha’ was not adopted as the name of the holiday. A shortened form of the month name in which the holiday occurs was used.
Ēostre’s association as a goddess of fertility is a relatively recent addition (and is not at all correct). Freja was the Germanic goddess of fertility/sexual love (amongst other things).
In addition, eggs and hares were never associated with Ēostra – that too is a considerably more modern addition to her mythos.
Though eggs and bunnies/rabbits (but _not_ hares!) are all associated with fertility, their inclusion in Easter traditions has nothing to do with any pagan antecedent.
Eggs at Easter were forbidden food during the Lenten fast. Eggs are the product of a warm-blooded animal, all of which were forbidden food during Lent. As an aside, the fish being cold-blooded was allowed as food; hence the association of Lent with eating fish.
Because eggs were forbidden during Lent, on Easter Sunday, eating eggs was regarded as a ‘treat’ of sorts. This was especially true for poorer people who did not keep animals for slaughter and could not afford to buy meat. In anticipation of Easter, in many traditions, the eggs were colored during the last days of Lent to mark the end of penance and fasting. In many countries, the colors used are highly symbolic – the traditional red of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, for example, symbolizes the blood Christ shed for mankind.
The Easter Hare ( *not* a bunny or a rabbit – both are considerably more modern ‘additions’) comes from the Lutherans of Germany (yep, the Easter Bunny is a _Protestant_ thing, deal with it) and fist appears in writing in 1572.
The Easter Hare, however, does not symbolize a thing. None of the egg-bringing animals of folklore are in any way ‘symbolic’ of any one thing, any more than the Tooth Fairy is symbolic of anything. Simply put, the hare is not symbolic of ‘fertility’ nor of anything else. These are supposed attributes which have been repeated so often, they have become accepted as truth. Indeed, the hare is not known to be as “prolific” (to put it politely) as the bunny or rabbit.
Hares are also known for constructing nest-like structures in fields and meadows in the spring – not a huge stretch for parents to tell their kids that that’s where all those colorful eggs they were going to hunt came from. There are a lot of folktales regarding the Easter Hare, some of which are still told today.
It is important to note that _historical similarity does not equate to historical sameness._ Some people just can’t seem to wrap their heads around that concept. Neither the hare/bunny/rabbit nor eggs at Easter have anything whatsoever to do with paganism, but that hasn't stopped a lot of wishful thinking.
Many people, typically Christians of more fundamentalist oriented denominations, have been trying to connect Easter with Ishtar and Easter’s traditions with those of ancient Babylon and other pagan traditions for well over 100 years; since about the late 1800’s.
The simple truth is that “Easter” does *not* derive from “Ishtar” – this association represents a complete false etymology, and a completely fabricated origin.
To put it in the simplest terms possible, there is just absolutely no way historically, culturally, and particularly linguistically, to connect Ishtar with Easter….but that certainly has not prevented people from making some rather valiant and, in some cases, even impressive attempts.
Easter takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon month name in which it occurs; namely, Ēosturmônað which, in turn, is named for the West Germanic goddess of dawn (and possibly Spring, but *not* fertility), Ēostra/Ēostre.
It is crucial to realize that she has lent only her name to the holiday (and in a very indirect way at that) in exactly the same way that other Germanic deities have lent their names to our weekdays in English. There is nothing more “pagan” to it than that.
The etymology of her name comes from the Indo-European root word *hewsôs, meaning “to shine, glow red” - a reference to dawn. In Proto-Germanic, the name has been reconstructed as *Austrô-. To the early Germans, she was ‘Ostara’, from which modern German gets “Ostern” for Easter.
It is only amongst certain Germanic people where the Greek ‘pascha’ was not adopted as the name of the holiday. A shortened form of the month name in which the holiday occurs was used.
Ēostre’s association as a goddess of fertility is a relatively recent addition (and is not at all correct). Freja was the Germanic goddess of fertility/sexual love (amongst other things).
In addition, eggs and hares were never associated with Ēostra – that too is a considerably more modern addition to her mythos.
Though eggs and bunnies/rabbits (but _not_ hares!) are all associated with fertility, their inclusion in Easter traditions has nothing to do with any pagan antecedent.
Eggs at Easter were forbidden food during the Lenten fast. Eggs are the product of a warm-blooded animal, all of which were forbidden food during Lent. As an aside, the fish being cold-blooded was allowed as food; hence the association of Lent with eating fish.
Because eggs were forbidden during Lent, on Easter Sunday, eating eggs was regarded as a ‘treat’ of sorts. This was especially true for poorer people who did not keep animals for slaughter and could not afford to buy meat. In anticipation of Easter, in many traditions, the eggs were colored during the last days of Lent to mark the end of penance and fasting. In many countries, the colors used are highly symbolic – the traditional red of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, for example, symbolizes the blood Christ shed for mankind.
The Easter Hare ( *not* a bunny or a rabbit – both are considerably more modern ‘additions’) comes from the Lutherans of Germany (yep, the Easter Bunny is a _Protestant_ thing, deal with it) and fist appears in writing in 1572.
The Easter Hare, however, does not symbolize a thing. None of the egg-bringing animals of folklore are in any way ‘symbolic’ of any one thing, any more than the Tooth Fairy is symbolic of anything. Simply put, the hare is not symbolic of ‘fertility’ nor of anything else. These are supposed attributes which have been repeated so often, they have become accepted as truth. Indeed, the hare is not known to be as “prolific” (to put it politely) as the bunny or rabbit.
Hares are also known for constructing nest-like structures in fields and meadows in the spring – not a huge stretch for parents to tell their kids that that’s where all those colorful eggs they were going to hunt came from. There are a lot of folktales regarding the Easter Hare, some of which are still told today.
It is important to note that _historical similarity does not equate to historical sameness._ Some people just can’t seem to wrap their heads around that concept. Neither the hare/bunny/rabbit nor eggs at Easter have anything whatsoever to do with paganism, but that hasn't stopped a lot of wishful thinking.
Regarding the Easter/Passover issue:
When we come to the Authorized Version, there remained but one instance of the word "Easter" -- Acts 12:4.
It is precisely in this one passage that "Easter" must be used, and the translation "Passover" would have conflicted with the immediate context. In their rush to accuse the Authorized Version of error, many have not taken the time to consider what the passage actually says:
....(Then were the days of unleavened bread.)...intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
To begin with, the Passover occurred before the feast of unleavened bread, not after!
And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. (Number 28:16-17). See also Mark 14:12, I Cor. 5:7-8, etc.
Herod put Peter in prison during the days of unleavened bread , and therefore after the Passover. The argument that the translation "Passover" should have been used as it is intended to refer to the entire period, is ruled out by the inclusion of "these were the days of unleavened bread." Scripture does not use the word "Passover" to refer to the entire period.
Allow me to further clarify any misunderstanding.
You may be surprised to know that the word "passover" did not even exist before William Tyndale coined it for his version of 1526-31. His was also the first English Bible to use "Easter." Previously the Hebrew and Greek were left untranslated. For example, in Wycliffe's Bible, which was based on the Latin, we find pask or paske.
An article which appeared in the Trinitarian Bible Society Quarterly Record states:
When Tyndale applied his talents to the translation of the New Testament from Greek into English, he was not satisfied with the use of a completely foreign word, and decided to take into account the fact that the season for the passover was known generally to English people as "Easter"...Tyndale has ester or easter fourteen times, ester-lambe eleven times, esterfest once, and paschall lambe three times.
When he began his translation of the Pentateuch, he was again faced with the problem in Exodus 12:11 and twenty-one other places, and no doubt recognising that easter in this context would be an anachronism, he coined a new word, passover and used it consistently in all twenty-two places. It is, therefore, to Tyndale that our language is indebted for this meaningful and appropriate word (date of article unknown).
The English versions after Tyndale followed his example in the Old Testament and increasingly replaced "Easter" with "Passover" in the New Testament.
Peloubet's Bible Dictionary says:
Strictly speaking the Passover only applied to the paschal supper and the feast of unleavened bread followed (p. 486).
Therefore, as the Passover had already been observed, and the days of unleavened bread were in progress, and yet Herod was still waiting for "after pascha;" we can only conclude that the word must be taken in a broader sense. History in fact does indicate a pagan and Christian interchange with the word through the translation "Easter."
A. W. Watts writes:
The Latin and Greek word for Easter is pascha, which is simply a form of the Hebrew word for passover -- pesach (Easter - Its Story and Meaning, p. 36).
Thus, the word came to be associated with both Christian and pagan observance. And it was to this latter that Herod was referring.
In an excellent study, from which some of the above has been drawn, Raymond Blanton explains (in quotations from Alexander Hislop) that Easter is Ishtar, the queen of heaven and goddess of spring:
The "pascha" that Herod was waiting for was evidently the celebration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, the Sun god. The sunrise services today are a continuation of that pagan worship.
"...the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, which was celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing and which, in many countries, was considerably later than the Christian festival, being observed in Palestine and Assyria in June. To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by complicated but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity - to shake hands." (Alexander Hislop, "The Two Babylons," p. 105).
Continuing his quotation from Hislop, Blanton shows:
The term Easter is of pagan origin -
"It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven" (p. 103).
The connection between the word Easter and Tammuz is thus -
The wife of Tammuz was Ishtar (Astarte), who is called Mother Nature, who being refreshed by spring rains brings life. When Tammuz died she followed him into the underworld or realm of Eresh-Kigal, queen of the dead. In her deep grief Astarte persuaded Eresh-Kigal to allow her messenger to sprinkle Astarte and Tammuz with the water of life. By this sprinkling they had power to return into the light of the sun for six months. After which the same cycle must be repeated.
Thus, the goddess of spring or the dawn goddess is responsible for the resurrection of Tammuz. Easter is a joint worship of the two. This Satanic myth is interwoven with the sun's cycle of vernal equinox (dawn) and autumn equinox (sunset). (From "The Flaming Torch" Jan. Feb. Mar. 1987).
Dake's Bible adds:
Easter...is derived from Ishtar, one of the Babylonian titles of an idol goddess, the Queen of Heaven. The Saxon goddess Eastre is the same as the Astarte, the Syrian Venus, called Ashtoreth in the O. T. It was the worship of this woman by Israel that was such an abomination to God. (I Sam 7:3)
I don't know......
There's this guy named Bill.....
That name is derived from Baal.
Bill = Baal
See how that works.
No the pagan dope smokin hippy witches and new agers call it easter.
Real Christian call it passover or resurrection day
if it's Passover He fulfilled, then there is no distinction to be made.
we only need a distinction if His death had nothing to do with His feasts
The feasts were a foreshadow of what Jesus was going to come and do.
Passover or Resurrection day is commemorating and celebrating what Jesus did for us when He went to the Cross.
He went to the cross on Pascha, on a wednesday, that we call good friday now.
He rose on Firstfruits, a sunday, not passover.
why isn't anyone claiming easter is a legitimate translation for Firstfruits? we're already claiming Luke was wrong to write Pascha, so why not go ahead and claim he had the wrong feast altogether?
passover isn't the day of resurrection, Firstfruits is. passover is the day of blood, of the cross.
"Pascha" says the Law.
passover.
not something new, but that which always was, and is now understood.