The Grinch Who Stole Easter

Well it's that time of year again. Not, bunnies, eggs, chocolate, and green shredded plastic in baskets and peeps. I mean it's that time of year again when Christians debate the origins of Easter, decide if it's pagan holiday and whether to celebrate the Lord's resurrection.

I did a little research on the origins of Easter and here is some interesting info:

Easter, is the day Christians commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion. It's origins date to the beginnings of Christianity, and it is probably the oldest Christian observance after the Sabbath

Many cultural historians find, in the celebration of Easter, a convergence of the three traditions - Pagan, Hebrew and Christian.

According to St. Bede, an English historian of the early 8th century, Easter owes its origin to the old Teutonic mythology. It was derived from the name "Eostre," the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom the month of April was dedicated. The festival of Eostre was celebrated at the vernal equinox, when the day and night gets an equal share of the day.

The English name "Easter" is much newer. When the early English Christians wanted others to accept Christianity, they decided to use the name Easter for this holiday so that it would match the name of the old spring celebration. This made it more comfortable for other people to accept Christianity.

But the Easter festival, as celebrated today, is also related to the Hebrew tradition, of Passover which is celebrated during Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew lunar year.

It was during this Passover in 30 AD that Christ was crucified under the order of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate when the Jewish high priests accused Jesus of "blasphemy". The resurrection came three days later, on the Easter Sunday.

The first Christians, were mostly Jewish and regarded Easter as a new feature of the "Pascha" or Passover." So it was observed in memory of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. It is equated with the proclamation of the resurrection. So for the early Christian believers, Passover turned out to be a unitive celebration in memory of the passion-death-and resurrection of Christ.

At the same time many of the pagan spring rites came to be a part of its celebration.This may have been because of the increasing number of gentile/non Jewish converts who could not totally break free of the influence of pagan culture of their forefathers.

This is what seems to bother most people. But despite the influence, there was an important shift in the spirit. No more was there glorification of the physical return of the Sun God. Instead the emphasis was shifted to the Sun of Righteousness who had won banishing the horrors of death for ever.

Some say Easter was Emperor Constantine's plan to Christianize the Roman nation so he took the pagan holidays and Christianized them. But the Feast of Easter was well established by the second century. But in the 4th century there arose a debate over the exact date of the Easter observance between the Eastern and Western Churches. The East wanted to have it on a weekday because early Christians observed Passover every year on the 14th of Nisan. But, the West wanted thought Easter should always be a Sunday regardless of the date.

To solve this problem the emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea in 325. The question of the date of Easter was one of its main concerns. The council decided that Easter should fall on Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. But fixing up the date of the Equinox was still a problem. The Alexandrians, noted for their rich knowledge in astronomical calculations were given the task. And March 21 was made out to be the perfect date for spring equinox.

The dating of Easter today follows the same. Accordingly, churches in the West observe it on the first day of the full moon that occurs on or following the Spring equinox on March 21., it became a movable feast between March 21 and April 25.

Still some churches in the East observe Easter according to the date of the Passover festival.
The preparation takes off as early as on the Ash Wednesday from which the period of penitence in the Lent begins. The Lent and the Holy week end on the Easter Sunday, the day of resurrection.

So regardless if Easter has it roots in Paganism or not I don't care. It is a time when I call to remembrance the Lord's death and resurrection for my sins and hopelessness. And Even if it is a converted Pagan holiday, It is only right. Like me what was once the enemies' has been converted into something giving glory to God.

Do folks enjoy this holiday...For He is Risen..Indeed He is Risen