Happy Easter! I mean, I mean "Passover ", I mean "Resurrection Sunday".
Every year when the church puts out our social media outreach campaign to invite people to our Easter services, I inevitably find myself in some version of this discussion - maybe you've experienced something like it: "did you know.... "Easter" is really a pagan holiday?" Some may tell you that Easter came from an old Germanic fertility goddess Eoster. I personally heard the argument that it was from the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. But either way, the story goes that early Christians co-opted this pagan holiday in order to promote (or possibly pollute) their religion.
Sometimes you will hear this from the standpoint of an unbeliever who is looking for reason to cast doubt on the truth of the resurrection. Sometimes these comments come from other believers who are warning us away from what they believe to be a slippery slope into pagan worship. But either way, these claims could be a source of doubt and confusion if we let them…
So first - Is there any truth to these claims? Is our celebration of Easter in vain, or (at worst) actually false worship offered to a demonic pagan idol? Are we leading others into idolatry by bringing them in for what we call Easter service? And even more startling: if there is truth in these claims is it possible that our hope in the resurrection foolish?
To start with - Yes - there is a kernel of truth in some of the claims... but just stick with me here. If you check the storehouse of all knowledge - Google- you will probably see that there is likely a connection between the Germanic goddess Eoster, and the word "Easter",
But don't let that shake you. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a literal historical event: For anyone who would try to argue that the hope we celebrate on Resurrection Sunday is a fairy tale - the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is extremely well attested in and outside of the Bible. What the disciples claimed happened on that first Resurrection Sunday was never in doubt – their confessions got most of them killed and they never once changed their tune. Of course, unbelieving scholars and historians deny that Jesus was actually physically raised from the dead – they would have to admit to a supernatural occurrence to accept it… But very few serious historians or scholars would claim that the celebration of Resurrection Sunday (or whatever you want to call it) was an appropriation of some other religious myth. The truth of eyewitness accounts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith from the very beginning of the history of the church (2 Peter 1:16). If anyone wants more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus we can give so many resources. Seriously, just message me and I’ll help get you started.
OK – so while we are waiting for those books to be delivered, let’s examine the other part of this claim. Often, well-meaning fellow believers take the root of the word “Easter” along with some of the other spring, bunny and egg imagery, and come to the conclusion that Easter is a distraction from Christ, and a pathway to idolatry.
To these people, I say “yes, Easter CAN BE a distraction”. The god of this age has an insidious goal to blind the minds of unbelievers to the truth of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4) – and in Easter (as well as Christmas) the enemy has had tremendous success in doing just that. If we want to, we could have an Easter party, an egg hunt and a spring rebirth message without one mention of Jesus and the empty tomb – and the world at large would celebrate. If we allow it to be that, it absolutely is a pathway to idolatry.
Then why do we – a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church – make a big deal about this Easter holiday, and use this word “Easter” that may even come from pagan roots?
Are we accommodating or watering down the Gospel to appeal to the world? The answer is “NO”.
At our Easter Services – and every other opportunity we have – we boldly declare the truth of the Resurrection. Jesus is displayed in glory through our worship, prayer, teaching, Bible reading, hospitality and fellowship – and Easter Sunday is no exception. At no point would anyone ever walk away from our service confused over Who we worship – the “bunny” is not promoted… Jesus is. When a person comes to an Easter service at Calvary Green Valley, they will hear a clear and direct declaration of the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ alone and they will have an opportunity to respond to that message by putting their trust in Him as Lord and Savior. That’s not idolatry or accommodation – that is evangelism.
As far as language is concerned, the word “Easter” may have some pagan roots… but so does the word “Thursday” (“Thor’s-Day in Old English) or the month of “June” (which alludes to the Roman goddess “Juno”) or the shoe brand Nike, and so many other words we use in our language every day. Removing all pagan references from our language would be difficult to say the least. If that is your desire, get ready to make some major adjustments to your wardrobe, food selection, set all of your calendars to orthodox Jewish – calendars and just for good measure, you should probably consider switching over to Hebrew to remove Greek, Latin and Germanic influences from your word choices. I don’t mean to make light of it or to imply that we should be careless with our words…
but the reality is that the “Easter” Season – captures the attention of a world who SO desperately needs to hear the truth about Resurrection Sunday – and this gives us a unique opportunity to do exactly what Jesus commanded us to do – make disciples of the nations (Matthew 28:19-20)
What the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means for you and I is just mind-blowing – we share in the righteousness, and victory over death and eternal life that Christ won. Whether we call it Easter or Resurrection Sunday, or Passover or Empty Tomb Day – we NEED to tell people about it.
So how do we respond?
And – at the end of the day – whether the person is a skeptic who doesn’t believe in the Resurrection, or a believer who is very concerned about the words we use in worship, or just someone with an inquisitive mind, invite them to “Come and See” (John 1:39).
Every year when the church puts out our social media outreach campaign to invite people to our Easter services, I inevitably find myself in some version of this discussion - maybe you've experienced something like it: "did you know.... "Easter" is really a pagan holiday?" Some may tell you that Easter came from an old Germanic fertility goddess Eoster. I personally heard the argument that it was from the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. But either way, the story goes that early Christians co-opted this pagan holiday in order to promote (or possibly pollute) their religion.
Sometimes you will hear this from the standpoint of an unbeliever who is looking for reason to cast doubt on the truth of the resurrection. Sometimes these comments come from other believers who are warning us away from what they believe to be a slippery slope into pagan worship. But either way, these claims could be a source of doubt and confusion if we let them…
So first - Is there any truth to these claims? Is our celebration of Easter in vain, or (at worst) actually false worship offered to a demonic pagan idol? Are we leading others into idolatry by bringing them in for what we call Easter service? And even more startling: if there is truth in these claims is it possible that our hope in the resurrection foolish?
To start with - Yes - there is a kernel of truth in some of the claims... but just stick with me here. If you check the storehouse of all knowledge - Google- you will probably see that there is likely a connection between the Germanic goddess Eoster, and the word "Easter",
But don't let that shake you. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a literal historical event: For anyone who would try to argue that the hope we celebrate on Resurrection Sunday is a fairy tale - the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is extremely well attested in and outside of the Bible. What the disciples claimed happened on that first Resurrection Sunday was never in doubt – their confessions got most of them killed and they never once changed their tune. Of course, unbelieving scholars and historians deny that Jesus was actually physically raised from the dead – they would have to admit to a supernatural occurrence to accept it… But very few serious historians or scholars would claim that the celebration of Resurrection Sunday (or whatever you want to call it) was an appropriation of some other religious myth. The truth of eyewitness accounts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith from the very beginning of the history of the church (2 Peter 1:16). If anyone wants more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus we can give so many resources. Seriously, just message me and I’ll help get you started.
OK – so while we are waiting for those books to be delivered, let’s examine the other part of this claim. Often, well-meaning fellow believers take the root of the word “Easter” along with some of the other spring, bunny and egg imagery, and come to the conclusion that Easter is a distraction from Christ, and a pathway to idolatry.
To these people, I say “yes, Easter CAN BE a distraction”. The god of this age has an insidious goal to blind the minds of unbelievers to the truth of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4) – and in Easter (as well as Christmas) the enemy has had tremendous success in doing just that. If we want to, we could have an Easter party, an egg hunt and a spring rebirth message without one mention of Jesus and the empty tomb – and the world at large would celebrate. If we allow it to be that, it absolutely is a pathway to idolatry.
Then why do we – a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church – make a big deal about this Easter holiday, and use this word “Easter” that may even come from pagan roots?
Are we accommodating or watering down the Gospel to appeal to the world? The answer is “NO”.
At our Easter Services – and every other opportunity we have – we boldly declare the truth of the Resurrection. Jesus is displayed in glory through our worship, prayer, teaching, Bible reading, hospitality and fellowship – and Easter Sunday is no exception. At no point would anyone ever walk away from our service confused over Who we worship – the “bunny” is not promoted… Jesus is. When a person comes to an Easter service at Calvary Green Valley, they will hear a clear and direct declaration of the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ alone and they will have an opportunity to respond to that message by putting their trust in Him as Lord and Savior. That’s not idolatry or accommodation – that is evangelism.
As far as language is concerned, the word “Easter” may have some pagan roots… but so does the word “Thursday” (“Thor’s-Day in Old English) or the month of “June” (which alludes to the Roman goddess “Juno”) or the shoe brand Nike, and so many other words we use in our language every day. Removing all pagan references from our language would be difficult to say the least. If that is your desire, get ready to make some major adjustments to your wardrobe, food selection, set all of your calendars to orthodox Jewish – calendars and just for good measure, you should probably consider switching over to Hebrew to remove Greek, Latin and Germanic influences from your word choices. I don’t mean to make light of it or to imply that we should be careless with our words…
but the reality is that the “Easter” Season – captures the attention of a world who SO desperately needs to hear the truth about Resurrection Sunday – and this gives us a unique opportunity to do exactly what Jesus commanded us to do – make disciples of the nations (Matthew 28:19-20)
What the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means for you and I is just mind-blowing – we share in the righteousness, and victory over death and eternal life that Christ won. Whether we call it Easter or Resurrection Sunday, or Passover or Empty Tomb Day – we NEED to tell people about it.
So how do we respond?
- Don’t practice idolatry in your home. Do not allow an Easter tradition (or any other tradition) to distract from the Gospel in your family - be clear about Who you worship on that Sunday – and every other day of the year. If people can see the “Easter” in your life and they can’t see Christ, you should reconsider your practices and traditions.
- Don’t worry too much about the words – worry about the Worship – its ok to attend Easter service, have Easter dinner, even to dye an Easter egg if our worship is directed toward the One who is Worthy of all worship. Use the appropriate words that you feel comfortable using. And be clear what you are celebrating if anyone has questions.
- Don’t argue – it’s just not worth it. Whether you prefer to use the word “Easter” or “Resurrection Sunday” – Ask yourself how arguing the point to exhaustion is going to glorify Jesus Christ and help people to know Him and trust in Him for Salvation.
And – at the end of the day – whether the person is a skeptic who doesn’t believe in the Resurrection, or a believer who is very concerned about the words we use in worship, or just someone with an inquisitive mind, invite them to “Come and See” (John 1:39).
Matthew Dionne
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