Part 1 - What Does the Word 'Easter' Really Commemorate?

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called Is ‘Easter,’ As We Know it, Biblical?.

The actual chronological ‘day by day’ account of the events of the Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ can be seen later in Part 4 of this series.

First, we need to correct some falsehood associated with so-called Easter account as you might be surprised to discover the Bible does not mention ‘Easter’ having any part in Christian worship. As a boy I attended the Roman Catholic church with my family. It was well known that many people at Mass on Easter Sunday did not come at any other time of the year. They might tell you they hoped God would forgive their sins and absences because they made the special effort to come to church on Easter Sunday as a most important time of year. Others felt that a special measure of sanctification, purification and holiness was imparted to them by their attendance at Easter Mass. But all of these folk’s ideas about Easter are wrong. They fail to realize that such unbiblical Catholic and Protestant church Easter traditions are based on falsehood. Apparently, none of them knew or even wondered about Easter’s’ origins. You might be shocked to know the truth of the matter!

Easter’s Pre-Christian Pagan Origins

Many people are amazed to find that the Bible does not mention Easter as part of Christian worship. Neither Jesus nor the apostles ever directed that it should be observed. The word Easter appears only once in the Bible, in Acts 12:4 in the King James Version where it is an incorrect translation of the Greek word pascha,’ which refers to the pascal lamb of which thousands were sacrificed in Israel’s Jerusalem Temple each PASSOVER,’ not Easter.

Also not generally known is that Easter did not originate with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Secular encyclopedias and dictionaries trace the term Easter variously back to Eostre, the name of the Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess of spring, to Eostur, the Norse word for the spring season, or to Ishtar, the ancient pagan spring goddess of the Near Eastern countries, also known as Astarte or, in the Bible, Ashtoreth.

All are connected to the spring season and springtime pagan fertility festivals which represented rejuvenation, reproduction and the life-enriching qualities of the sun. Customs and symbols associated today with ‘Easter’ observance can be directly traced back to Easter’s pagan pre-Christian origins.

The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, in its article on Easter, describes these customs and symbols as having been “handed down from the ancient ceremonial and symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals.” One symbol, the Easter rabbit, is called the modern replacement for “the hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt.”

Another source reveals the origin of two Easter customs: “Also popular among Europeans and Americans on Easter is ham, because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian European culture” (The Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987, “Easter”).

“In traditional folk religion the egg is a powerful symbol of fertility, purity, and rebirth. It is used in magical rituals to promote fertility and restore virility; to look into the future; to bring good weather; to encourage the growth of crops and protect both cattle and children against misfortune, especially the dreaded evil eye. All over the world it represents life and creation, fertility and resurrection . . . Later [customs concerning eggs] were linked with Easter. The [Roman Catholic] church did not oppose this, though many egg customs were pre-Christian in origin, because the egg provided a fresh and powerful symbol of the Resurrection and the transformation of death into life”

The unholy mingling of pagan symbols, rituals, and rites with Bible truth is no excuse for adopting Satanic pagan symbolism as seen in most all so-called Christians organizations today.

Ancient ‘Pagan’ ‘Resurrection Celebrations’ Led to Easter:

Also, celebrating the resurrection of a deceased deity in a springtime festival also long predates Christianity. Chief among such celebrations were those in honor of Tammuz, the Pagan Babylonian “god of pasture and flocks and of vegetation.” He was husband and brother of Ishtar (Asherah), ‘goddess of fertility.’

“Babylonian epics preserve the saga of the annual dying of Tammuz in the autumn when vegetation withered; his departure to the underworld; his recovery by the mourning Ishtar; and his springtime return to the fertilized upper world” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, 1961, “Tammuz”).

The Babylonians taught that Tammuz was mystically revived from death in the spring by the anguish and crying of Ishtar, who was the same as the pagan goddess Ashtoreth referred to in the Bible in Judges 2:13. This ancient custom of mourning for the return of a dead god is mentioned in Ezekiel 8:14, where we read of women who are “weeping for Tammuz.” His supposed resurrection marked the end of winter and the beginning of spring, with its new life and vegetation.

Ishtar, wife of Tammuz, was also worshipped as “the Queen of Heaven” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, “Asherah”). The term “Queen of Heaven” is widely used in Pagan and Muslim terminology. The Bible shows that idolatry and sun worship connected with Ishtar and Tammuz became so widespread and influential that they were practiced even by people who had once known the true God but had fallen into idolatrous worship (Eze. 8:12-18; Jer. 7:18; 44:17-23).

Worshipped in other areas under the name Adonis, Tammuz was honored with an annual celebration by a cult that mourned his death and rejoiced at his resurrection. The cult worked its way into the folkways of Christian peasants, who wept over the lost Adonis and participated in lewd festivities” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, “Tammuz”).

Satan has always tried to emulate and diminish God’s redemptive work through Christ’s Cross-death and resurrection and today he does this through ‘manmade religion.’