You often hear that Easter is "a pagan holiday." This claim is made, variously, by some Christian Fundamentalists (who want to do away with or re-brand Easter), by some atheists (who want to undermine Christianity), and by some neo-pagans (who want to undermine Christianity and claim Easter for their own).
People advancing this argument will argue that rabbits, eggs, and other symbols associated with Easter are fertility symbols--and we all know that fertility symbols are a dead giveaway for paganism, right?
They'll also say that the very name "Easter" is itself a giveaway--that it's derived from the Mesopotamian goddess "Ishtar." (Hear how her name even sounds like "Easter"?)
Or else they'll say that it's derived from an Anglo-Saxon goddess named "Eostre." And when they say th, they even have a saint and scholar--who just happens to be a doctor of the Church!--on their side. (It's the Venerable Bede.)
But there's more to this story than they suppose.
In fact, it turns out, only a person whose native language is English, or perhaps German, would even advance this kind of argument. If your horizons are a bit broader, the true origin of Easter is devastatingly obvious.
In this video, I go into the whys and wherefores of it all.
If you think the video is helpful, please share it with friends--especially those who have heard or who themselves make the "Easter is pagan" claim.
By the way, this Easter Sunday I'm going to be sending out "7 Reasons Jesus Rose from the Dead (Defending the Resurrection)."
If you'd like to get that, sign up here by Holy Saturday and you'll have it in your email inbox on Easter morning.
It'll give you something to help people understand the true essence of Easter, as well as the basis of the Christian faith.
In the meantime, what do you think about all this "Easter is pagan" business?
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Well said, Mr. Akin. I’m French and since I was in kindergarten I (and everyone with half a brain) knew that Easter originates directly from the Jewish Passover : after all, I was celebrating “Pâques” (Easter) only a few days before or after my Jewish friends’ celebration of “la pâque” (Jewish Passover). Hard to miss the connection, heh ?
It wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I discovered that some English-speaking loonies were trying to push this utterly ridiculous fairytale of the “pagan” Easter. They should have checked if a French kindergartener could know they were lying before trying this pathetic trick…
Is it me or is Jimmy slowly morphing into a red-headed Mark Shea?
Just to be clear, you are saying that Easter in English does indeed come from Eostre, but that the existence of such a goddess is dubious?
NO, Easter is not pagan, nor is Christmas, nor any other Christian celebration. No, they may well not fall on the same day of the occasion but nothing was really written by dates during that time in history.
The Celebration of these things are important to our beliefs.
I wish people would GET A LIFE….and Yes in the beginning of Christianity
Gentiles had to accept the Jewish faith prior to becoming followers of Christ. They are so very much hand in hand anyway….except for the modern day “so called” right wing christians. (TV idiots)
If you study most of the world religions they are almost based on the same beliefs of basic good, and the belief of a higher being. They could all be a on a basis of Abraham and Moses.
Exactly. English is an important language, but the whole universe doesn’t revolve around it.
I just wanted to wish everyone a joyful and holy Pascha.
The egg was used hundreds of years ago to signify “life” and new birth.
Associations made for children and adults to understand about life and
newness of life in Christ.
Having lived in Germany for most of my childhood “Happy Easter!” is “Frohe Ostern!” “Ostern” literally means “Eastern” or “towards the East.” Liturgically we look towards the East where the Sun rises for the “Son Rise.” This is both a backwards look to the historical Resurrection and a forward look to the Second Coming of Christ which heralds the General Resurrection of all humanity. Chicks and ducklings emerging from their eggs are a visual symbol of Christ emerging from the tomb as are rabbits emerging from their underground warrens. The “Osterhase” or “Easter Bunny” with his basket of eggs is symbolic of Christ bringing us new life. Our secular culture, the candy companies and the card companies have reduced these rich Christian symbols into cutesy commercial icons.
That picture is my desktop picture on my old computer. We have GOT to be related!
How can Easter be pagan? If it wasn’t for Christ dying, we wouldn’t HAVE Easter. Even the Easter Bunny is real (very cute and fuzzy, brownish gray with a white tail) because one was outside the tomb.
Besides, the word “easter” is just a name…the season can be called Christ Day…same Christian meaning.
Jesus Christ was crucified because he said he was the SON of GOD and he cast out devils and healed the sick and forgave sin!YOUR POPE calls himself GOD on EARTH your priest cast out devils and forgive sin BLASPHEMY!
why is the pope not crucified along with all blasphemous priest?(BECAUSE HE IS ANTI CHRIST)Jesus preached for 3 1/2 years you had to be 30 years old to become a rabbi.He was crucified in MARCH/APRIL time frame 1/2 year from this time frame puts him being born in SEPTEMBER( NOT DECEMBER 25) another Catholic LIE.
Why did the pope change NEW YEARS DAY from MARCH 20 to JANUARY 1 What is new in the dead of winter ANOTHER catholic lie.ect.ect.ect EASTER comes from babylon mystery religon .NIMROD worship, the first eggs were blood red died with the blood of babys who were sacrificed to PAGAN GODS.COME out her ......Catholic church is satanic….....
Carroll: You are misinformed. The sources you have been reading are not reliable.
As an illustration, I offer you this invitation: Please tell me one identifiable papal document in which the pope claims to be “God on earth.” I’m not talking about a secondary source document in which someone claims that the pope says this or attributes those words to him. I mean an actual, primary source papal document that we can look up.
If you accept this invitation, and try to trace the origin of these quotations, you will find that nobody can identify the supposed document, that the document doesn’t exist, or that it does not contain the quotation in question. In any case, the quotations are all fake.
This is but one example of how the sources you have been reading are unreliable, but I offer it as a starting point to illustrate this point.
God bless you!
@carroll fowler
I do believe your post is the first I’ve heard calling for violence against Catholic clergy from an anti-Catholic Protestant. Tell, because of that, how are we supposed to take anything in your rambling garbage post seriously?
carroll fowler
We as Catholics don’t care what you think. We only care what God thinks. You can belittle us as much as you want and it wouldn’t change a truly good Catholic to sway their believes. We have witnessed miracles and the love of God and your ignorance will not change us. We have been Christians before you so called 500 years ago christians came along.
You are the ones who tried to change the bible and persecute Catholics so we shall see on judgement day how Jesus will handle everyone who calls the true church of Jesus Christ Satanist or anything else repugnant to our faith, we defend our faith by being witnesses to it not against it.
Again, it wouldn’t matter to us how you respond we know in our hearts what is right and wrong and could care less what you think is right.
The truth is that true followers of Y’shua will do what He did. HE did observe Passover (not a separate day called easter) and He dod NOT observe His birthday at all. Christmas and Easter will all the fixings are no more than traditions of men, which, if placed above YHWHs own observances are a sin. I was raised Catholic but do not agree with what the Catholic church has done to distort His holy Word.
There are a lot of people who were raised Catholic who have fallen away because of their own beliefs. Jesus may not have celebrated His own birthday, but on His last Passover on earth He began a New Covenant using His Own Body and Blood as our New and Everlasting Covenant with God. And at His Last Supper He said “Do this in rememberance of me.” Which in His own words tells us He wanted us to remember what He has done for us always. It is in the Bible my friend. This is the reason that He suffered and died for us. And of course His resurrection is also very important to us otherwise it was all for nothing. How could we not celebrate all He is to us.Jesus is our God and just as much as the Passover was important to the Jewish people and us, so much more is the New Covenant which was given to us by the Messiah Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter what the Holiday is called it is our love for Jesus Christ that continues our respect and obligation to Him so that we will never forget what He did for us for all eternity.
There’s nothing quite like stumbling upon a laundry list of heresies (as enumerated above) on the day of commemoration of Our Lord’s resurrection to remind me of the sanity of the Church.
I did convert to Catholicism from a neo-pagan religion. That religion did not celebrate Easter, but did celebrate the spring equinox. This is believed by pagans to be a modern day innovation by a man named Gerald Gardner or by some modern day Druid Revival Romantics. Folk awareness of the spring equinox in the British Isles, for example, is thought to have been mainly imported with the Christian Easter. For instance, the sacrificial mating themes from Mediterranean Lands has a strong link with the spring equinox. The grim festival of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, at which the self-castration, death and resurrection of her son/lover Attis was marked by worshippers castrating themselves to become her priests, was from the 22nd to the 25th of March. In Rome these rites took place on the spot where St. Peter’s now stands in Vatican City. In fact, inplaces where Attis-worship was widespread, the local Christians used to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ at the same date; and pagans and Christians used to quarrel bitterly about which of their gods was the true prototype and which the imitation. Easter is taught to be the Christian version of the sacrificial mating theme, as I quote from the “Witches Bible”......“Easter-‘Jesus’ willing death, descent into Hell and resurrection, can be seen as the Christian version of the sacrificial mating theme, for ‘Hell’ in this sense is patriarchal monotheism’s view of the collective unconscious, the dreaded feminine aspect, the Goddess, into whom the sacrificed God is plunged as the necessary prelude to rebirth.” That’s very much the ‘short version’ but neo-paganism draws from all traditions. One can very much believe that all that is taught comes from wise instructors and teachers. My turning point away from it was the moment that I discovered that at the first in history, it was not “witches” who were persecuted by Christians, but rather Christians who were put to the torch by pagans in Rome! Everything in that pseudo-religon is drawn from other world religions and written and taught in such a way that it twists and turns and confuses, all whilst sounding very learned. It especially draws heavily on Roman Catholic Ritual, only in such a way that it’s backwards.
Just want to say “thank you Jimmy Akin” I love reading your articles and looking at your videos. You don’t make statements that cannot be proven. Some people like to blame their ignorance on what “someone said” instead of
sound proof. I am a Catholic, born and raised Catholic and again thank you so much for putting these non-believers in their place. My Mom told me once, “don’t argue with them (non-believers), pray for them, you will be doing them more good” so that is what I do.
what a dumb. easter, eggs and rabbit is spring symbols…duh! celebrations of spring season and fertility is pagan. if this is not a pagan celebration, just use other symbols, for the Gods sake!
easter came from eoster, a pagan goddess of europe. the english language came from the anglo-saxon folks, celtic origins, folks that celebrates eoster, therefore when they was christianized [by force] it cames to result in easter. doubled dumb, since he admit that Bede has quoted a calendary. In pagan times, the calendaries got its names from old Gods.
Easter was deliberately marked in Eoster celebration exactly to supress the pagan origins of europe.
Since Christ was dead around the Pessach, the time of pessach was not in western calendaries and since is a jew celebration, christian should not celebrate pessach. Since the Ressurrection happens 3 days before his death [fryday, before the sabbath] hence the Ressurrection happens in monday, not in sunday. If Easter comes from Pessach, why just the folk in europe don’t use this word?
the grimmm brothers just collect the germanic folklore whose origins from pagan folklore also.
the video don’t proove a thing, except the urgence to denial the pagan roots of easter.
surprise, surprise. I read an article that says tha the Passover was actually a pagan celebration…
sorry mr akin, you failed.
Well, I can see roberto didn’t actually watch the video. I can recognize his type, though. No matter how much fact, history, etc you show them, you can’t open up a mind that is closed. It’s like trying to argue with a JFK assassination conspiracy theorist: they will believe anything so long as it supports their idea.
Actually Ostara (Easter) is a Pagan holiday, when the Druids and Pagan of the old world followed the path of Nature they focused on the Moon phases. Pagans celebrated the Spring Equinox and the Christians Easter which always fall on the Sunday after the Full moon after the Spring Equinox. The Spring Equinox is celebrate to mark the rebirth of the earth similar to Easter and Jesus resurrection and rebirth. There is Historical, Archeological and Scientific proof that this is true. The reason that is so similar to the Christians is because when they were going around trying to convert the Pagan earth worshiper not (SATAN Worshipers) the wanted to incorporate some of the same beliefs so that it would make it easier to convert people. Those who did not convert were eliminated and called Witches.
I guess I just believe in truth. So
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/determining-easter-date.html
http://starryskies.com/articles/dln/4-00/easter.moon.html
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/riteofspring1.html
The solar calendar (that the Jews used ) has 7 segments of 50 days with a 15 day Feast of PASSOVER which represented the blood sacrifice of marking the door of ones home to cause the angel of death to passover . Yeshua’s blood sacrifice ended all blood sacrifices and HE became our passover - the rest of all this speculation is nothing more than a waist of time and time is short .
Thanks for the info. I was never aware of these charges of paganism before this year, but it seems some Fundamentalists have been really laying it on thick this year….often as a barely concealed swipe at Roman Catholicism (Ishtar, Babylonian goddess—->Catholic Church, ‘!@#$% of Babylon’). I have seen some really hateful tracts.
Sure, in a perfect world there would less commercialism and giant Easter bunnies taking pictures with children at the mall and more people at the Easter Vigil. Until that day, other Christians trying to drag down the Roman Catholic church seems like the opposite of trying advancing the Kingdom.
What an interesting, intelligent, and rational commentary by Mr Akin. I am a life-long Catholic and I recently heard this whole Easter-pagan charge for the first time, and was quite bemused. Glad I ran across this. Etymology explains A LOT that people without or unwilling to have a knowledge of proper history would otherwise fall for hook, line, and sinker.
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