Worth repeating as he takes apart all these claims<\/p>\n
Easter Is Not Pagan, and Neither Are Its Origins<\/a> Every year, as Christians around the world celebrate Easter, skeptics revive a familiar claim: that Easter is just a repackaged pagan festival. They point to spring fertility rites, to goddesses like Ishtar and Eostre, and to symbols like eggs and rabbits, declaring Christianity guilty of cultural plagiarism.<\/p>\n But these assertions, repeated so often they\u2019ve become clich\u00e9s, collapse under any serious historical scrutiny. The truth is simple: Easter isn\u2019t pagan, and neither are its origins. Rather, it is the central celebration of the Christian faith, grounded in real events, rooted in Jewish (not pagan) practice.<\/p>\n Perhaps some of the people who claim otherwise are simply used to distrusting authority (a good thing). A few may feel \u201csuperior\u201d by asserting \u201chidden knowledge\u201d (which is not at all a good thing: it\u2019s pride, or gnosticism, or both).<\/p>\n But the truth is, even if Easter had all manner of pagan trappings (it does not), it wouldn\u2019t matter:\u00a0Christ came to conquer and redeem all things<\/strong>. That\u2019s the whole point of the Resurrection: our Lord even conquered death! And Scripture tells us that it is indeed that Resurrection which is our hope, and that if it is not true then \u201cwe are to be the most pitied among men.\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One online commenter suggested today that \u201cnowhere does Scripture command us to celebrate Easter\u201d. But if we need to be\u00a0commanded<\/em>\u00a0to celebrate the Resurrection of our Redeemer, do we really believe at all?<\/p>\n Christmas was not \u201coriginally the Saturnalia\u201d<\/a>. Easter is not just a fertility rite. But it wouldn\u2019t matter. Every knee, and everything, shall bow to Jesus Christ our risen Lord. \u201cHe is making all things new\u201d, which means that previously they were old.<\/p>\n Still, let\u2019s examine the evidence.<\/p>\n The argument that Easter is pagan generally takes two forms. First, critics claim that early Christians simply borrowed from pre-Christian fertility rites to make their new religion \u201cmore palatable\u201d to the masses. Second, they argue that since many ancient religions had myths about dying and rising gods \u2014 Osiris, Tammuz, Mithras, or Dionysus \u2014 Christianity is just one more retelling of an old myth.<\/p>\n Both claims are superficial, historically ignorant, and logically incoherent. They also deny the faith.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the obvious: correlation does not equal causation. Why would we be surprised that pagans had holidays? Lots of them? Some overlapping with Christian ones?<\/p>\n Perhaps even more to the point, why should we be surprised to find Satan defiling actual holy days with his filth and lies?<\/p>\n Why should we let him get away with it? The critics seem to think that Satan and his pagan minions came\u00a0first<\/em>, not the Creator God.<\/p>\n The existence of seasonal festivals in spring, a time of agricultural rebirth, is neither surprising nor threatening to the claims of Christianity. Human societies, particularly agrarian ones, have always celebrated seasons. That some of these celebrations took place near the Jewish Passover \u2014 the actual historical setting of Jesus\u2019 death and Resurrection \u2014 is coincidence, not conspiracy.<\/p>\n And indeed, why would the date of Easter change every year \u2014 to match the Jewish calendar\u2019s dating of the Passover \u2014 if it were fixed to some pagan fertility rite?<\/p>\n It\u2019s just nonsense.<\/p>\n The Christian claim is not that Jesus symbolically rose like crops in the spring. The Christian claim is that Jesus physically, historically, rose from the dead in a specific week, on a specific day, in a specific city, under a specific Roman governor. Christianity is not a seasonal myth \u2014 it is an historical faith rooted in eyewitness testimony.<\/p>\n What skeptics ignore \u2014 or never knew \u2014 is that Easter is rooted in the Jewish Passover. All four Gospels locate the death and Resurrection of Jesus during the Passover week. Jesus is repeatedly called the \u201cLamb of God,\u201d a reference to the Passover lamb whose blood the Israelites in Egypt had placed as a sign on their doorposts, demonstrating their faith so the Lord would pass them over as He poured out judgment on their oppressors.<\/p>\n The Last Supper itself was a Passover meal. Paul,\u00a0writing within twenty years of Jesus\u2019 death<\/em>, explicitly connects Christ\u2019s Resurrection with Passover, calling Him \u201cour Passover lamb\u201d (1 Corinthians 5:7) and asserting that His Resurrection occurred \u201con the third day according to the Scriptures\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:4) \u2014 a reference to the Hebrew Bible, not Babylonian, Egyptian, or Norse myth.<\/p>\n The earliest Christians, almost all of whom were Jewish, did not need pagan holidays to build their calendar. They already had one.<\/strong>\u00a0And they tied the celebration of Christ\u2019s Resurrection directly to Passover \u2014 its actual well-witnessed date \u2014 not to the vernal equinox or some fertility goddess.\u00a0The very name of the celebration \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>Pascha\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u2014 is the Greek and Latin word for Passover.<\/strong>\u00a0To this day, most Christians around the world \u2014 Eastern Orthodox, Greek, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, and many others \u2014 still call it\u00a0Pascha<\/em>\u00a0or a local derivative (i.e.,\u00a0Pascua de Resurrecci\u00f3n<\/em>\u00a0in Spanish,\u00a0P\u00e2ques<\/em>\u00a0in French,\u00a0Pasqua<\/em>\u00a0in Italian,<\/em>\u00a0Pa\u015fti<\/em>\u00a0in Romanian,\u00a0Paskha<\/em>\u00a0in Russian).<\/p>\n The English word \u201cEaster\u201d is an historical outlier, not the norm.<\/p>\n The etymological argument is one of the weakest \u2014 and most frequently cited \u2014 by critics. Many claim \u201cEaster\u201d comes from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, supposedly worshiped in springtime rites involving hares and fertility symbols.<\/p>\n The problem? This theory, popularized only very recently in the 19th-century by the monk Bede, rests on extremely thin evidence: a single passing reference in\u00a0De Temporum Ratione<\/em>, written around A.D. 725. No archaeological evidence, no liturgies, no myths, and no other textual sources mention this goddess\u00a0at all<\/em>, much less any celebrations tied to her.<\/p>\n But even if Bede was correct (and he wasn\u2019t) that would prove only that English and German speakers used a local word for a Christian holiday. In German, Easter is\u00a0Ostern<\/em>. But again, in virtually every other major language the word used derives directly from \u201cPassover\u201d.<\/p>\n Christianity was not borrowing paganism. The English language, much later, was borrowing a Germanic word for spring.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that naming conventions prove nothing about the origin of the thing itself. The English days of the week are named for Norse gods: Thursday is \u201cThor\u2019s day,\u201d and Friday is \u201cFrigg\u2019s day.\u201d But no one suggests Christianity is secretly worshiping Odin when we go to church on Sunday. Names change. Language evolves. Our God does not.<\/p>\n Another popular but equally flawed theory asserts that Christianity copied its central event \u2014 the Resurrection \u2014 from ancient myths about dying and rising gods. Osiris in Egypt, Tammuz in Mesopotamia, Dionysus in Greece \u2014 these figures are trotted out as supposed prototypes of Christ.<\/p>\n This is simply not something a Christian can believe. But it\u2019s also not believable.<\/p>\n Each of these myths differ in substance, not just detail. Osiris dies and becomes king of the underworld, but he never returns to earthly life. Tammuz dies and returns cyclically, but there is no once-for-all Resurrection. Mithras doesn\u2019t die at all in his myth. And Dionysus\u2019 story involves dismemberment and rebirth in various tellings, none of which even vaguely resemble the Gospel narratives. And in any case, none of these myths make historical claims about a unique, bodily Resurrection in real space and time.<\/p>\n More importantly,\u00a0the earliest Christian writings \u2014 especially Paul\u2019s letters \u2014 show no trace of these myths.<\/strong>\u00a0Paul was a rigorously monotheistic Jew and one of the leading theologians of his day even prior to his conversion. His letters are saturated with references to the Old Testament, not Greco-Roman mythology. His Christology is drawn from Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the Psalms \u2014 not from Isis or Ishtar.<\/p>\n If Christianity had borrowed from paganism, you would expect syncretism in its earliest texts. You would expect rituals, stories, or symbols that mirrored pagan cults. Instead, you find Jewish categories \u2014 Messiah, sacrifice, covenant, Resurrection \u2014 applied to a Jewish man crucified under Roman authority and afterward witnessed alive by hundreds.<\/p>\n The early church didn\u2019t copy pagan myths. It upended them.<\/p>\n One of the most viral claims about Easter is that it derives from the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar<\/em>\u00a0(pronounced\u00a0Eesh-tar<\/em>), a deity of fertility, love, war, and sex. A popular meme circulates every year, usually around Holy Week, declaring:<\/p>\n Easter is actually the celebration of Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility and sex… Her symbols (like the egg and the bunny) were and still are fertility and sex symbols… After Constantine decided to Christianize the Empire, Easter was changed to represent Jesus.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This meme is almost pure fiction.<\/p>\n For starters, there is\u00a0no linguistic connection<\/strong>\u00a0between\u00a0Ishtar<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Easter<\/em>. The names sound vaguely similar in English, but they come from entirely different language families.\u00a0Ishtar<\/em>\u00a0is Akkadian, derived from the Sumerian\u00a0Inanna<\/em>.\u00a0Easter<\/em>, as already noted, comes from the Old English\u00a0\u0112astre<\/em>\u00a0(or possibly\u00a0\u0112ostre<\/em>), a name mentioned in passing by Bede to describe a local spring festival. There is no historical or etymological link between the two.<\/p>\n Moreover,\u00a0there is no evidence<\/strong>\u00a0that Christians in the early centuries of the church ever associated Easter with Ishtar or with any rituals surrounding her. Nor are there any serious scholars who support this theory, whether Christian or otherwise.<\/p>\n The Ihstar \u201cconnection\u201d is pure internet folklore, not academic history. Even secular scholars of ancient religion find this claim laughable. The meme conflates phonetic coincidence with historical causality \u2014 and ignores the deep Jewish foundation of Christian Resurrection theology.<\/p>\n So why do people believe it? Likely because it’s catchy, subversive, and easy to share. But ease of repetition doesn\u2019t make it true. Ishtar has no part in the origin of Easter, either in name or in meaning.<\/p>\n Skeptics often point to Easter eggs and rabbits as \u201cproof\u201d of pagan influence. It\u2019s true that eggs and rabbits have long been symbols of fertility in various cultures. But their use in Christian celebration developed much later \u2014 and they were not originally religious symbols at all.<\/p>\n Eggs were forbidden during Lent in the early Middle Ages, so when the fast ended, Christians feasted on them at Easter. Decorating eggs became a festive custom, not a theological statement. Similarly, the Easter bunny traces its origins to German folklore in the 1600s \u2014 not exactly a time known for its paganism \u2014 and did not become widely associated with Easter\u00a0until the 19th century in America<\/em>.<\/p>\n These customs are cultural, not creedal.<\/p>\n Cultural accretions around holidays are inevitable. That doesn\u2019t mean the holiday is pagan.\u00a0It means it\u2019s popular.<\/a>\u00a0And in cultures shaped by Christian belief, that popularity grew around Christian truth.<\/p>\n Finally, and most importantly, the entire premise of the \u201cEaster is pagan\u201d argument ignores the historical claims of Christianity. The Gospels don\u2019t tell us that Christ rose in the spring<\/em>, like Persephone emerging from Hades. They tell us He rose\u00a0on the third day<\/em>, during a specific Passover, witnessed by real people who were willing to die for what they saw. This wasn\u2019t a seasonal myth. It was a shocking, world-shattering event that transformed cowards into martyrs and a small Jewish sect into a global faith.<\/p>\n The early Christians didn\u2019t celebrate the Resurrection because it fit the seasons. They celebrated it because they believed it had happened.<\/strong>\u00a0And they marked that celebration not with rites to a forgotten goddess, but with hymns, baptisms, Scripture readings, and communion \u2014 the breaking of bread in remembrance of Christ\u2019s body, and the cup in remembrance of His blood, He Who is our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7).<\/p>\n Christianity conquered paganism not by imitation, but by contradiction. The early church grew because it refused to bow to the emperor, refused to offer incense to idols, and refused to reduce Jesus to just one more myth in the pantheon of dying gods. It proclaimed a risen Christ, victorious over sin and death, and it did so all too often at the cost of its own blood.<\/p>\n Easter is not pagan. Its foundation is Jewish, its meaning is historical, and its message is uniquely Christian: that God has entered history, died in our place, and risen in triumph over the grave.<\/p>\n Attempts to tie Easter to pagan mythology fail not only historically, but theologically. They misunderstand the nature of the Christian claim and misrepresent the evidence that supports it.<\/p>\n If the Resurrection is true, no pagan myth can diminish it. And if it is false, then no pagan parallel can redeem it. But Christians don\u2019t gather on Easter morning because of myths or metaphors. They gather because a tomb was empty \u2014 and still is.<\/p>\n That is not pagan. That is the Hope of the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Worth repeating as he takes apart all these claims Easter Is Not Pagan, and Neither Are Its Origins Jesus is our Passover, and the events of one specific Passover week are the origin of the holiday, no matter how many Cadbury eggs you may consume. Every year, as Christians around the world celebrate Easter, skeptics … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-o-the-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109439"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116024,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109439\/revisions\/116024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJesus is our Passover, and the events of one specific Passover week are the origin of the holiday, no matter how many Cadbury eggs you may consume.<\/p>\nThe Central Claim: Pagan Parallels<\/h4>\n
The Passover<\/h4>\n
So what About the Name \u201cEaster\u201d?<\/h4>\n
Dying and Rising Gods?<\/h4>\n
The Ishtar Myth: A False Internet Meme<\/h4>\n
Eggs and Bunnies<\/h4>\n
The Historical Reality<\/h4>\n
No, the Empty Tomb Is Not a Fertility Rite<\/h4>\n