Jayhawker Soule

Try doing a search on Eostre

Amos

Because we were placed East of Eden from where we went West because you can't go East form East of Eden. When we return at the place we first started we are back at East of Eden. Hence Easter signifies East as opposed to West where we will have a new life because we will know the place as if for the first time. In my opinion new life in the East is sufficient grounds to call it Easter.

Opposite to Christmas on which when the day did not follow the night (two days of Christmas indicate this), at Easter the night does not follow the day which is why Easter is always celebrated on a Sunday and then for two days.

The day on which the night does not follow the day is the seventh day of creation (NAB) and this is the day of Revelation 22:5, "the night shall be no more. They will need no light from lamps or from the sun for the lord God shall give them the light."

Ford Prefect

Easter is derived from the name of a Germanic fertility Goddess known as either Ostra or Eastra (depending on location) who had a fertility festival around the spring equinox. At least that's what I read in a book on Norse Mythology.

As has already been stated the location of Easter is meant to be somewhere around Passover which is considered to be the last supper.

Rhea

Thanks everyone.

Actually Amos is the only one answering what I'm really after. (!!!)

I know the pagan origins, what I _don't_ know is how Christians justify using a pagan name. These are the same people who burn Harry Potter. how can they stand it?

So what I'm trying to understand is how the _christian_ church manages to rationalize using a _pagan_ name for their _holiest_ day. Seems it would gall them to pieces. Yet it doesn't. Why?

stryder2112

Ignorance. Most have no idea where the name comes from. A few that do are extremely pissed about it, but then tend to be the Puritan or Jehovah Witness nuts who go on and on about "pagan" holidays like christmas and halloween along with easter.

I would guess that most xians have totally claimed the holiday as their own and don't give the pagan origins a second thought. The difference in reaction from fundamentalists between halloween and christmas/easter bears this out. These would be the same folks who decorate their xmas trees and have santa leave presents for their kids on xmas-eve (both traditions are pagan in origin). Such cognitive dissonance shouldn't be overly surprising in the face of the obvious cognitive dissonance weathered by these same folks concerning their other fundamentalist, bizarre-o beliefs.

Stryder

[ April 02, 2002: Message edited by: stryder2112 ]</p>

Toto

Excellent article on the Newswire:
<a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,482-251004,00.html" target="_blank">Atheists for Easter</a>

Amos

Rhea?? I don't exactly know what you mean by that but I am quite happy to expose my thoughts on this.

First of all, Easter is not Jewish nor OT related and should never be connected to the OT, or passover for that matter, because Easter is far beyond passover. Passover is when the firstborn (son of man) was spared and Easter is when the son of man becomes fully man. The young man in white to the right was the prior "son of man" now become "young man." The difference between Passover and Easter is time spend in purgatory which the Jews don't have and neither do protestants. In other words, if Passover gets you into the promised land Easter gets you out of it without dying there.

Second, understand that Catholicism is not Jewish nor does it owe allegiance to Judaism (no brown nosing is required), because Jesus traced his own roots to Adam and not to Abraham (Luke 3:23-). This indicates that a new religion was born (in case you wondered why that was so ).

Catholics are happy to use pagan rituals as long as they fit the message and describe the event and the last thing we want to be is a Christian Church because there can be no such thing or there would be Churches in the New Jeruasalem.

As for protestant religions? I really don't know why they do what they do but a good geuss would be to say that they do whatever they do in the name of protest.

Easter is a bit foreign to protestants because it all seems a bit remote to them and many sects don't even celebrate it. Coronation, which is our triumph, is never heard of there either and so that should tell you something.

Jonsey3333

Um, Amos...

"A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac ...
[a bunch of other people]
...of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." (Matthew 1:1-2,16; NIV)

And that East stuff is ridiculous. The resurrection of Christ is a different story than Adam and Eve.

-Mike

Amos

Your Matthew quote is to show how we emerged from Judaism from a lineage kept according to Jewish tradition and through Luke we go to Adam. This makes us the grafted branches.

Christ did not resurrect but Jesus did so your point is rediculous. Jesus died and Jesus must resurrect.

Your NIV qoute is also wrong and should read: "A family record of Jesus Christ, son of David, etc.

Be reminded here that Christ was born and he shall be called Jesus as told in a dream to Joseph.

[ April 02, 2002: Message edited by: Amos ]</p>

Straight Hate

Having posed the Easter question to a Catholic before this past weekend, I was bluntly told I had no proof that the holiday had pagan origins because "pagans had feasts for every month of the year". I was then told about Jesus' resurrection and how it was through his glory and grace and blah, blah, blah. Big surprise.