Lamoille Valley Grace Brethren Church
March 24, 2024

      • Luke 19:36–38NASB95

  • Blessed Be Your Name
  • Great Is Thy Faithfulness

      • 1 Corinthians 15:1–4NASB95

  • Scripture Reading:

    1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NASB95
    1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
    Easter, considered the most holy celebration in Christendom. Controversy and misunderstanding surrounds it.
    “People today can think that they are worshipping the true Savior when they are really worshipping a false savior—another Jesus! The entirety of traditional Christianity is actually worshipping Baal, the mediator and sun god, who was named after his “wife” Ishtar”
    Hundreds of millions keep the rank idolatrous pagan feast known as Easter, believing themselves to be honoring Jesus Christ! Most are in complete ignorance of what they are doing.
    -Herbert W. Armstrong 7th Founder of the cult, the World Wide Church of God
    Is this true? Is Easter a pagan celebration? No!
    Let’s look at 3 Easter Misconceptions
    ​

    1. The Date For Easter

    Many believe that what we call Easter today was developed by Roman Catholicism who tried to replace pagan festivals celebrated in different regions in honor of various false gods and goddesses with Christian practices. The claims are laced with names of scholars who have made connections between the names of the festivals and goddesses, the timing of the celebration, and the symbols used.
    The date question fell into two camps: should the celebration be held on the day of the Resurrection (Western churches which became the Roman Catholic church) or the date of the Jewish Passover (Eastern Orthodox church)?
    Roger Patterson of Answers in Genesis:
    Irenaeus (died c. 202) recorded an account of Polycarp (c. AD 70–155), who was Bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of the Apostle John. Irenaeus tells of Polycarp's visit to Rome where he discussed the issue with Anicetus, the bishop of Rome (before the pope and the Roman Catholic church).
    For neither could Anicetus (Sunday observance) persuade Polycarp (passover observance) to forego the observance [in his own way], inasmuch as these things had been always [so] observed by John the disciple of our Lord, and by other apostles with whom he had been conversant; nor, on the other hand, could Polycarp succeed in persuading Anicetus to keep [the observance in his way]. for he maintained that he was bound to adhere to the usage of the presbyters who preceded him. And in this state of affairs they held fellowship with each other.
    Both dates for Easter were based on the date of the Jewish passover. They were not of pagan origins but of apostolic origin. Both the passover based date (used today by the Eastern Orthodox church) and the date based on the Sunday observance after the passover were used and accepted as early as 100-150 years from the event by those who were associated with the apostles.
    ​
    Romans 14:4–6 NASB95
    4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.
    There is no “High and Holy Day” of the year that is required in Scripture to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. As a matter of fact, each Sunday was a celebration of Christ’s resurrection. It was the established pattern in Scripture.
    Luke 24:1 NASB95
    1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
    Acts 20:7 NASB95
    7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.
    1 Corinthians 16:1–2 NASB95
    1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2 On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.
    Revelation 1:10 NASB95
    10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,
    ​

    2. The Name Easter

    A. Claims

    Eostre

    The name Easter is claimed to have its origin with a goddess of the Anglo-Saxons named Eostre. It is believed that she is the goddess of the dawn and was worshipped in the spring by pagans in Northern Europe and the British Isles. There remains only one written record of a goddess who might be connected to Eostre of the Saxons. The church scholar Bede, who lived in modern-day England from AD 673–735, recorded the names of several of the goddesses worshipped by early Saxons. He identified Eostre as one whose festivals were celebrated in the month given her name.
    Nick Sayers argued that the origin of Easter in English comes from the German: Because the English Anglo/Saxon language originally derived from the Germanic, there are many similarities between German and English. Many English writers have referred to the German language as the "Mother Tongue!" The English word Easter is of German/Saxon origin and not Babylonian as some have falsely claimed.

    Eostre — Oster

    The German equivalent is Oster. Oster is related to Ost which means the rising of the sun, or simply in English, east.

    Erstehen = Ester, Stehen

    Oster comes from the old form of auferstehen, which means resurrection. The older version auferstehen is esterstehen which comes from two words, Ester meaning first, and stehen meaning to stand. These two words combine to form erstehen which is an old German form of auferstehen, the modern day German word for resurrection.

    Eostre = Resurrection?

    All of this to say that hundreds of years after Christ, the Anglo Saxon goddess Eostre seems to have stolen her name from an even older German term that meant resurrection. So instead of the term Easter being of pagan roots, the pagan term for their goddess could very well be of Christian roots!
    The Bible does not use the word easter, but of course the resurrection is all over the inspired scriptures.

    3. Easter Practices

    1. Lent

    The claim is that lent fastings started as pagan practices.
    Ishtar, who was worshipped as the "Mother of God and Queen of Heaven.” The queen told the worshippers that when Tammuz was killed by the wild pig, some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz. She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz. During this time, no meat was to be eaten.
    What the church fathers said...
    Irenaeus, writing of Polycarp visiting the Bishop of Rome around AD 150, stated: For the controversy is not merely as regards the day, but also as regards the form itself of the fast. For some consider themselves bound to fast one day, others two days, others still more, while others [do so during] forty: the diurnal and the nocturnal hours they measure out together as their [fasting] day. And this variety among the observers [of the fasts] had not its origin in our time, but long before in that of our predecessors, some of whom probably, being not very accurate in their observance of it, handed down to posterity the custom as it had, through simplicity or private fancy,
    So some form of fasting was practiced by the early Christians. Fasting is good. Pagan religions don’t get to claim fasting all to themselves.
    Nothing in the Bible requires Lent, but are we as Christians free to fast for the 40 days leading up to Easter? Yes, of course.
    Problems come in when anything that is not required in the Scripture becomes an authoritative tradition.
    Matthew 15:1–9 NASB95
    1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
    By the way, The traditional carnival celebrations which precede Lent in many cultures have become associated with the season of fasting if only because they are a last opportunity for excess before Lent begins. The most famous pre-Lenten carnival in the world is celebrated in Rio de Janeiro; other famous Carnivals are held in Trinidad & Tobago, Venice, Cologne, Mobile, AL and New Orleans. It is known by the name Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday.
    ​

    2. Sunrise Services

    The claim is that they are pagan sun worship celebrations like what Ezekiel describes.
    Ezekiel 8:13–18 NASB95
    13 And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.” 14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.” 16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”
    But Jesus had sunrise services
    Mark 1:35 NASB95
    35 In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.
    What is the difference? What you worship is the difference. No matter what time of day it is. The time of day can neither be claimed exclusively by Christians or pagans.

    3. Eggs and Bunnies

    Roger Patterson from Answers in Genesis wrote,
    “The hare has been celebrated as a symbol of fertility in many cultures throughout recorded history. Throughout Western celebrations, the hare or rabbit has been attached to the Resurrection of the Savior of the world. Exactly how this connection has come to be varies within cultures, but all are from outside the Bible. A problematic aspect of the hare in our modern culture comes from the promise of treats to boys and girls who have been good. Not too unlike Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny magically and mysteriously appears in the middle of the night to hide a basket filled with candy for the child. Sadly, rather than waking to a morning focused on celebrating Christ‘s victory over death and our assurance of faith in Him (1 Corinthians 15:13-17), the focus is on selfishly seeking a hidden basket of sweets. I ask you to question whether this is a wise practice for your family and yet to reserve judging those who choose to participate in such activities (Romans 14). Every Christian would do well to consider whether this type of activity leads to exalting Christ as Lord and Savior and to make that goal the measure of their decision whether to participate in egg hunts and the like. Like the hare, eggs have also been a symbol of fertility cults and pagan rituals around the world. The coloring of eggs is common to many of these rituals. Many Christians across the globe have incorporated the use of eggs into their celebrations but with no specific biblical command to do so. While eggs have been symbols of the rebirth of the earth each spring in paganism, Christians have viewed the egg as a symbol of resurrection. From the apparently dead egg springs forth new life in the form of a chick.”
    This is found nowhere in the scriptures.
    Are these symbols inherently pagan? No, God made bunnies. God made sunrises. And God made eggs. Can a Christian use bunnies or eggs (even a colored one) to worship God? Yes of course.
    Now, did God make magical bunnies that hide eggs for children, no. This is certainly the invention of pagan cultures.
    ​
    Romans 14:13–19 NASB95
    13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
    An important question to ask is, “what is the focus of my celebration?” Is Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead the foundation of how I celebrate? Is Jesus preiminent i all I do?
    Remember that those brothers and sisters with whom you disagree have also been bought with Christ’s blood and have His Spirit living in them. Share your understanding of Scripture with love knowing that it is the role of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction of sin. If your convictions lead you to avoid the common customs, do so, and do not violate your conscience on these matters. Regardless, make sure Christ is the focus of your worship not only during the celebration of the Resurrection, but every day of your life.
    ​
    Conclusion:
    What ever the date you use for Christ’s resurrection, whatever the term you use for Christ’s resurrection, or whatever the methods used to reinforce the truth about Christ’s resurrection, what is important is:
    1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NASB95
    1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
    ​
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    [Old Norse Freyja] 1691 : the Norse goddess of love and beauty
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    Fri•day \ˈfrī-(ˌ)dā,-dē\ noun
    [Middle English, from Old English frīged+g (akin to Old High German frīatag Friday), from *Frīg Frigga + d+g day, prehistoric translation of Latin dies Veneris Venus’ day] before 12th century : the sixth day of the week — Fri•days \-(ˌ)dāz, -dēz\ adverb
    ​
    Friday
    The day in honor of the Norse goddess Frigg.
    In Old High German this day was called frigedag.
    To the Romans this day was sacred to the goddess Venus, and was known as dies veneris.
    French: vendredi; Italian: venerdi; Spanish: viernes.
    German: Freitag ; Dutch: vrijdag.
    ​
    Frigg
    by Micha F. Lindemans
    As the wife of Odin, Frigg is one of the foremost goddesses of Norse mythology. She is the patron of marriage and motherhood, and the goddess of love and fertility. In that aspect she shows many similarities with Freya, of whom she possibly is a different form.
    She has a reputation of knowing every person's destiny, but never unveils it. As the mother of Balder, she tried to prevent his death by extracting oaths from every object in nature, but forgot the mistletoe. And by a fig made from mistletoe Balder died. Her hall in Asgard is Fensalir ("water halls"). Frigg's messenger is Gna, who rides through the sky on the horse Hofvarpnir. In some myths she was rumored to have had love affairs with Odin's brothers Ve and Vili.
    ​
    Freya
    by Micha F. Lindemans
    In Norse mythology, Freya is a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses. She is the patron goddess of crops and birth, the symbol of sensuality and was called upon in matters of love. She loves music, spring and flowers, and is particularly fond of the elves (fairies). Freya is one of the foremost goddesses of the Vanir.
    She is the daughter of the god Njord, and the sister of Freyr. Later she married the mysterious god Od (probably another form of Odin), who disappeared. When she mourned for her lost husband, her tears changed into gold.
    Her attributes are the precious necklace of the Brisings, which she obtained by sleeping with four dwarfs, a cloak (or skin) of bird feathers, which allows its wearer to change into a falcon, and a chariot pulled by two cats. She owns Hildesvini ("battle boar") which is actually her human lover Ottar in disguise. Her chambermaid is Fulla. Freya lives in the beautiful palace Folkvang ("field of folk"), a place where love songs are always played, and her hall is Sessrumnir. She divides the slain warriors with Odin: one half goes to her palace, while the other half goes to Valhalla. Women also go to her hall.
    Old Norse: Freyja, Friia
    ​
    For many pop-culture Christians, the "fish" decal on the back car bumper, or attached to a key chain or door is a symbol of their religion, and a feel-good statement about Jesus Christ. Early Christians used the fish as a recognition sign of their religion. It is also identified as the "Ichthus," an acronym from the Greek, "Iesous Christos Theou Uios Soter," or "Jesus Christ the Son of God, Saviour." Oxford English Dictionary (C.E.) defines "Ichthyic" as "of, pertaining to, or characteristic of fishes; the fish world in all its orders."
    But contemporary Jesus worshippers might be surprised, even outraged, to learn that one of their preeminent religious symbols antedated the Christian religion, and has its roots in pagan fertility awareness and sexuality. Barbara G. Walker writes in "The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects," that the acronym pertaining to Jesus Christ was a "rationale invented after the fact... Christians simply copied this pagan symbol along with many others." Ichthys was the offspring son of the ancient Sea goddess Atargatis, and was known in various mythic systems as Tirgata, Aphrodite, Pelagia or Delphine. The word also meant "womb" and "dolphin" in some tongues, and representations of this appeared in the depiction of mermaids. The fish also a central element in other stories, including the Goddess of Ephesus (who has a fish amulet covering her genital region), as well as the tale of the fish that swallowed the penis of Osiris, and was also considered a symbol of the vulva of Isis.
    Along with being a generative and reproductive spirit in mythology, the fish also has been identified in certain cultures with reincarnation and the life force. Sir James George Frazer noted in his work, "Adonis, Attis, Osiris: Studies in the History of Oriental Religion" (Part Four of his larger work, "The Golden Bough") that among one group in India, the fish was believed to house a deceased soul, and that as part of a fertility ritual specific fish is eaten in the belief that it will be reincarnated in a newborn child.
    Well before Christianity, the fish symbol was known as "the Great Mother," a pointed oval sign, the "vesica piscis" or Vessel of the Fish. "Fish" and "womb" were synonymous terms in ancient Greek,"delphos." Its link to fertility, birth, feminine sexuality and the natural force of women was acknowledged also by the Celts, as well as pagan cultures throughout northern Europe. Eleanor Gaddon traces a "Cult of the Fish Mother" as far back as the hunting and fishing people of the Danube River Basin in the sixth millennium B.C.E. Over fifty shrines have been found throughout the region which depict a fishlike deity, a female creature who "incorporates aspects of an egg, a fish and a woman which could have been a primeval creator or a mythical ancestress..." The "Great Goddess" was portrayed elsewhere with pendulous breasts, accentuated buttocks and a conspicuous vaginal orifice, the upright "vesica piscis" which Christians later adopted and rotated 90-degrees to serve as their symbol.
    Along with the fish used as a code sign for early Christian communities, the ichthys also found its way into the ritual and decor of church rites. One case in point is the church mitre worn by prelates. Where did this originate? Dr. Thomas Inman discussed this phenomenon in his two volume opus, "Ancient Faiths Embodied in Ancient Names," (1869). He included a representation of a sculpture from Mesopotamia, observing "It is the impression of an ancient gem, and represents a man clothed with a fish, the head being the mitre; priests thus clothed, often bearing in their hand the mystic bag..."
    "In almost every instance," added Inman, "it will be recognized that the fish's head is represented as of the same form as the modern bishop's mitre." The fish also appears in another sacred iconograph, the Avatars of Vishnu, where the deity "is represented as emerging from the mouth of a fish, and being a fish himself; the legend being that he was to be the Saviour of the world in a deluge which was to follow..."
    From its focus of worshipping a god-man born of a virgin to the selection of holidays and symbols, Christianity appropriated the metaphors of earlier pagan religions, grafting them into its own account of the creation and beyond. Few Jesus worshippers are aware of this. Even fewer know that when they flaunt the "Ichthus" or Ichthys on a tee-shirt, car bumper or even the door of a state legislative office as a representation which originated in Christianity, they are in fact, displaying a more ancient symbol indicative of female anatomy and reproductive potency -- the very sign of the Great Mother.
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    Great Mother of the Gods, in ancient Middle Eastern religion (and later in Greece, Rome, and W Asia), mother goddess, the great symbol of the earth's fertility. As the creative force in nature she was worshiped under many names, including Astarte (Syria), Ceres (Rome), Cybele (Phrygia), Demeter (Greece), Ishtar (Babylon), and Isis(Egypt). The later forms of her cult involved the worship of a male deity (her son or lover, e.g., Adonis, Osiris), whose death and resurrection symbolized the regenerative power of the earth.
    WHO IS THE GODDESS - THE DIVINE MOTHER?
    This website is devoted to the discovery of God in the feminine form - the Goddess; the Divine Mother. Also included in this website are pages that explore many of the more common forms of the Goddess. The Divine Mother abides in the heart of every being, universes without end. She is the divine creatrix who has manifested these dancing forms of consciousness as an adoration for Her beloved, the eternal formless Supreme Being - God the Father. In truth these two timeless lovers are not two. Rather, they are inseparably bound to play out their cosmic dance of love for all eternity. The Goddess came from nowhere meaning that there was never a time She did not exist. She is that aspect of the Divine which is immanent and accessible. Where there is love, compassion and mercy, we see Her direct presence. Her abode is always the present moment.
    GODDESS LIST
    Goddess forms are many and beautiful
    Goddess as creatrix of the universe
    Aphrodite - Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty
    Artemis - Greek Goddess of Hunting and Vegetation
    Athena - Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War
    Ceres - Roman Goddess of Agriculture
    Demeter - Greek Goddess of Agriculture
    Devi - Hindu Goddess of Existence
    Diana - Roman Goddess of Hunting
    Durga - Hindu Goddess that Destroys Demons
    Gaia - Greek Goddess as Mother Earth
    Ha Hai-i Wuhti - Hopi Divine Mother
    Hecate - Greek Goddess of Magic
    Ishtar - Babylonian Goddess of War
    Isis - Egyptian Goddess
    Juno - Roman Goddess of Women
    Kali - Hindu Goddess of Liberation
    Kuan Yin - Buddhist Goddess of Compassion
    Lakshmi - Hindu Goddess of Prosperity
    Minerva - Roman Goddess of Arts
    Mother Mary - Christian Goddess of Compassion
    Persephone - Greek Goddess of the Underworld
    Sarasvati - Hindu Goddess of Knowledge and Arts
    Shakti - Hindu Goddess of Primal Energy
    Tara - Tibetan Goddess of Compassion
    Venus - Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty
    ​
    ​
    This Akkadian/Babylonian Great Goddess represents a later and more complex development of the Sumerian Innana, and her son/lover Tammuz plays the role of the vegetation-god. She is not only an embodiment of sexuality and fertility, a "Lady of Battle" and a goddess of healing, but it is also she who bestowed the ancient kings with the right to rule over her/their people. Her fame reached into the Hittite and Hurrian lands of Anatolia, to Sumeria, Egypt and to the Assyrians. Here especially - in Assyria and Egypt - she was revered as a goddess of Battle and is depicted with bow, quiver and sword; her prowess is symbolised by her lioness-steed.
    ​
    In other sacred texts Ishtar is described as having "sweet lips" and a "beautiful figure" and it is clear that she takes much pleasure in love. Significantly, when she descends to the Netherworld all sexual activity ceases everywhere on earth. In this aspect her familiar and symbolic animal is the dove. Ishtar was also thought to rule the menstrual/ovarian cycle.
    ​
    In the Old Testament her worship is regarded as an abomination, and it is Ishtar's worshipers and her ishtarishtu (sacred prostitutes) who were to be found even at the doors of the Hebrew god's great temple, much to the consternation of his priests and prophets. As well as being renowned for her powers of creation, divine rulership, prophesy and desire, Ishtar was also regarded as a healer and we know that her effigy once was transported all the way to Egypt in order to heal the then sick Amenhotep III.
    ​
    In her earliest manifestations she was associated with the storehouse and thus personified as the goddess of dates, wool, meat, and grain; the storehouse gates were her emblem. She was also the goddess of rain and thunderstorms-leading to her association with An, the sky god-and was often pictured with the lion, whose roar resembled thunder. The power attributed to her in war may have arisen from her connection with storms. Inanna was also a fertility figure, and, as goddess of the storehouse and the bride of the god Dumuzi-Amaushumgalana, who represented the growth and fecundity of the date palm, she was characterized as young, beautiful, and impulsive-never as helpmate or mother. She is sometimes referred to as the Lady of the Date Clusters.
    ​
    Ishtar's primary legacy from the Sumerian tradition is the role of fertility figure; she evolved, however, into a more complex character, surrounded in myth by death and disaster, a goddess of contradictory connotations and forces-fire and fire-quenching, rejoicing and tears, fair play and enmity. The Akkadian Ishtar is also, to a greater extent, an astral deity, associated with the planet Venus. With Shamash, the sun god, and Sin, the moon god, she forms a secondary astral triad. In this manifestation her symbol is a star with 6, 8, or 16 rays within a circle. As goddess of Venus, delighting in bodily love, Ishtar was the protectress of prostitutes and the patroness of the alehouse. Part of her cult worship probably included temple prostitution. Her popularity was universal in the ancient Middle East, and in many centers of worship she probably subsumed numerous local goddesses. In later myth she was known as Queen of the Universe, taking on the powers of An, Enlil, and Enki.
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    The traditional carnival celebrations which precede Lent in many cultures have become associated with the season of fasting if only because they are a last opportunity for excess before Lent begins. The most famous pre-Lenten carnival in the world is celebrated in Rio de Janeiro; other famous Carnivals are held in Trinidad & Tobago, Venice, Cologne, Mobile, AL and New Orleans. It is known by the name Mardi Gras,Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday.
    In Lebanon, the last Thursday before lent, Catholics celebrate Khamis el sakara where they indulge themselves with alcoholic drinks.
    In Latin the term quadragesima (translation of the original Greek Τεσσαρακοστή, Tessarakostē, the "fortieth" day before Easter) is used. This nomenclature is preserved in Romance,Slavic and Celtic languages (for example, Spanish cuaresma, Portuguese quaresma, French carême, Italian quaresima, Romanian păresimi, Croatian korizma, Irish Carghas, and WelshC(a)rawys). However in most Slavic languages the common name is simply a phrase meaning "fasting time" (as Czech postní doba) or "great fast" (as Russian великий пост vyeliki post).
    In the late Middle Ages, as sermons began to be given in the vernacular instead of Latin, the English word lent was adopted. This word initially simply meant spring (as in the German language Lenz and Dutch lente) and derives from the Germanic root for long because in the spring the days visibly lengthen.[11]
    Rabbits and hares
    Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols of antiquity. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.[citation needed]
    Rabbits and hares are both prolific breeders. Female hares can conceive a second litter of offspring while still pregnant with the first.[5] This phenomenon is known as superfetation. Lagomorphs mature sexually at an early age and can give birth to several litters a year (hence the saying, "to breed like bunnies"). It is therefore not surprising that rabbits and hares should become fertility symbols, or that their springtime mating antics should enter into Easter folklore.
    The idea of an egg-laying bunny came to the U.S. in the 18th century. German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhas", sometimes spelled "Oschter Haws".[citation needed] "Hase" means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare, not a rabbit. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.[8] In 1835, Jakob Grimm wrote of long-standing similar myths in Germany itself. Grimm suggested that these derived from legends of the reconstructed continental Germanic goddess *Ostara.[9]
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    Ostara's Hare
    The pagan origins of the Easter Bunny
    Have you ever wondered where the celebration of the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ acquired its unusual name and odd symbols of colored eggs and rabbits?
    The answer lies in the ingenious way that the Christian church absorbed Pagan practices. After discovering that people were more reluctant to give up their holidays and festivals than their gods, they simply incorporated Pagan practices into Christian festivals. As recounted by the Venerable Bede, an early Christian writer, clever clerics copied Pagan practices and by doing so, made Christianity more palatable to pagan folk reluctant to give up their festivals for somber Christian practices.
    In second century Europe, the predominate spring festival was a raucous Saxon fertility celebration in honor of the Saxon Goddess Eastre, whose sacred animal was a hare. The hare is often associated with moon goddesses; the egg and the haer together represent the god and the goddess, respectively.
    Pagan fertility festivals at the time of the Spring equinox were common- it was believed that at this time, male and female energies were balanced.
    The colored eggs are of another, even more ancient origin. The eggs associated with this and other Vernal festivals have been symbols of rebirth and fertility for so long the precise roots of the tradition are unknown, and may date to the beginning of human civilization. Ancient Romans and Greeks used eggs as symbols of fertility, rebirth, and abundance- eggs were solar symbols, and figured in the festivals of numerous resurrected gods.
    Moving forward fifteen hundred years, we find ourselves in Germany, where children await the arrival of Oschter Haws, a rabbit who will lay colored eggs in nests to the delight of children. It was this German tradition that popularized the 'Easter bunny' in America, when introduced into the American cultural fabric by German settlers in Pennsylvania.
    Many modern practitioners of Neo-pagan and earth-based religions have embraced these symbols as part of their religious practice, identifying with the life-affirming aspects of the spring holiday. (The Neopagan holiday of Ostara is descended from the Saxon festival.) Ironically, some Christian groups have used the presence of these symbols to denounce the celebration of the Easter holiday, and many churches have recently abandoned the Pagan moniker with more Christian oriented titles like 'Resurrection Sunday.'
    ​
    Grimm additionally speculates on the nature of the goddess and surviving folk customs that may have been associated with her in Germany:
    Ostara, Eástre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the christian's God. Bonfires were lighted at Easter and according to popular belief of long standing, the moment the sun rises on Easter Sunday morning, he gives three joyful leaps, he dances for joy ... Water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing ... here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess.[11]
    Ēostre derives from Proto-Germanic *Austrō, ultimately from a PIE root *h₂ewes- (→ *awes-), "to shine", and therefore closely related to a conjectural name of *H₂ewsṓs, the dawn goddess, which would account for Greek "Eos", Roman "Aurora", and Indian "Ushas".[1]
    The modern English term "Easter" is the direct continuation of Old English Ēastre, whose role as a goddess is attested solely by Bede in the 8th century.[2] Ēostre is the Northumbrianform, while Ēastre is more common West Saxon.[3]
    Bede states that the name refers to a goddess named Ēostre who was celebrated at Eosturmonath, one of the months of the Anglo-Saxon calendar. In the 19th century Hans Grimm cited Bede when he proposed the existence of an Old High German equivalent named ōstarūn, plural, "Easter" (modern German language Ostern). There is no certain parallel to Ēostre inNorth Germanic languages though Grimm speculates that the east wind, "a spirit of light" named Austri found in the 13th century Icelandic Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, might be related.
    The Origin Of Lent
    What is the purpose of Lent and how did it originate? And if we tell somebody what we are doing for Lent, with the purpose of having them keep us in prayer for the 40 days, is that considered a bad thing?
    Q. What is the purpose of Lent and how did it originate? And if we tell somebody what we are doing for Lent, with the purpose of having them keep us in prayer for the 40 days, is that considered a bad thing?
    A. The word Lent comes from a Germanic root meaning Spring but is more often associated with the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday. It originated in the Babylonian pagan religion, but was folded into Christianity when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official religion.
    Here’s how it began. According to tradition Semeramis, the wife of Nimrod the King of Babylon, claimed she had been supernaturally impregnated by the Sun god and gave birth to Tammuz. One day while hunting, Tamuz was killed by a wild boar. Semeramis mourned for 40 days, at the end of which Tammuz was supposedly brought back from the dead. She proclaimed herself Queen of Heaven, founded a celibate priesthood to worship her son and declared its chief priest infallible, and memorialized her mourning in an annual 40 day period of denial. It was the world’s first counterfeit of the Biblical story of the Redeemer and grew into a mother-child cult that was duplicated in almost every pagan mythology.
    If you feel the Lord is leading you into a 40 day period of self-deprivation to draw nearer to Him, more power to you. But if you’re just observing a tradition of man’s religion it won’t serve any purpose except to prove that you can go without something for 40 days.
    ​
    Where Did Easter Come From?
    Does the following sound familiar?—Spring is in the air! Flowers and bunnies decorate the home. Father helps the children paint beautiful designs on eggs dyed in various colors. These eggs, which will later be hidden and searched for, are placed into lovely, seasonal baskets. The wonderful aroma of the hot cross buns mother is baking in the oven waft through the house. Forty days of abstaining from special foods will finally end the next day. The whole family picks out their Sunday best to wear to the next morning’s sunrise worship service to celebrate the savior’s resurrection and the renewal of life. Everyone looks forward to a succulent ham with all the trimmings. It will be a thrilling day. After all, it is one of the most important religious holidays of the year.
    Easter, right? No! This is a description of an ancient Babylonian family—2,000 years before Christ—honoring the resurrection of their god, Tammuz, who was brought back from the underworld by his mother/wife, Ishtar (after whom the festival was named). As Ishtar was actually pronounced “Easter” in most Semitic dialects, it could be said that the event portrayed here is, in a sense, Easter. Of course, the occasion could easily have been a Phrygian family honoring Attis and Cybele, or perhaps a Phoenician family worshipping Adonis and Astarte. Also fitting the description well would be a heretic Israelite family honoring the Canaanite Baal and Ashtoreth. Or this depiction could just as easily represent any number of other immoral, pagan fertility celebrations of death and resurrection—including the modern Easter celebration as it has come to us through the Anglo-Saxon fertility rites of the goddess Eostre or Ostara. These are all the same festivals, separated only by time and culture.
    If Easter is not found in the Bible, then where did it come from? The vast majority of ecclesiastical and secular historians agree that the name of Easter and the traditions surrounding it are deeply rooted in pagan religion.
    Now notice the following powerful quotes that demonstrate more about the true origin of how the modern Easter celebration got its name:
    “Since Bede the Venerable (De ratione temporum 1:5) the origin of the term for the feast of Christ’s Resurrection has been popularly considered to be from the Anglo-Saxon Eastre, a goddess of spring…the Old High German plural for dawn, eostarun; whence has come the German Ostern, and our English Easter” (The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. 5, p. 6).
    “The fact that vernal festivals were general among pagan peoples no doubt had much to do with the form assumed by the Eastern festival in the Christian churches. The English term Easter is of pagan origin” (Albert Henry Newman, D.D., LL.D., A Manual of Church History, p. 299).
    “On this greatest of Christian festivals, several survivals occur of ancient heathen ceremonies. To begin with, the name itself is not Christian but pagan. Ostara was the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring” (Ethel L. Urlin, Festival, Holy Days, and Saints Days, p. 73).
    “Easter—the name Easter comes to us from Ostera or Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, for whom a spring festival was held annually, as it is from this pagan festival that some of our Easter customs have come” (Hazeltine, p. 53).
    “In Babylonia…the goddess of spring was called Ishtar. She was identified with the planet Venus, which, because…[it] rises before the Sun…or sets after it…appears to love the light [this means Venus loves the sun-god]…In Phoenecia, she became Astarte; in Greece, Eostre [related to the Greek word Eos: “dawn”], and in Germany, Ostara [this comes from the German word Ost: “east,” which is the direction of dawn]” (Englehart, p. 4).
    As we have seen, many names are interchangeable for the more well-known Easter. Pagans typically used many different names for the same god or goddess. Nimrod, the Bible figure who built the city of Babylon (Gen. 10:8), is an example. He was worshipped as Saturn, Vulcan, Kronos, Baal, Tammuz, Molech and others, but he was always the same god—the fire or sun god universally worshipped in nearly every ancient culture. (Read our free booklet The True Origin of Christmas to learn more about this holiday and Nimrod’s part in it.)
    The goddess Easter was no different. She was one goddess with many names—the goddess of fertility, worshipped in spring when all life was being renewed.
    The widely-known historian, Will Durant, in his famous and respected work, Story of Civilization, pp. 235, 244-245, writes, “Ishtar [Astarte to the Greeks, Ashtoreth to the Jews], interests us not only as analogue of the Egyptian Isis and prototype of the Grecian Aphrodite and the Roman Venus, but as the formal beneficiary of one of the strangest of Babylonian customs…known to us chiefly from a famous page in Herodotus: Every native woman is obliged, once in her life, to sit in the temple of Venus [Easter], and have intercourse with some stranger.” Is it any wonder that the Bible speaks of the religious system that has descended from that ancient city as, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:5)?
    We must now look closer at the origin of other customs associated with the modern Easter celebration.
    The Origin of Lent
    According to Johannes Cassianus, who wrote in the fifth century, “Howbeit you should know, that as long as the primitive church retained its perfection unbroken, this observance of Lent did not exist” (First Conference Abbot Theonas, chapter 30). There is neither biblical nor historical record of Christ, the apostles or the early Church participating in the Lenten season.
    Since there is no instruction to observe Lent in the Bible, where did it come from? A forty-day abstinence period was anciently observed in honor of the pagan gods Osiris, Adonis and Tammuz (John Landseer, Sabaean Researches, pp. 111, 112). Alexander Hislops, The Two Babylons, pp. 104-105, says this of the origin of Lent: “The forty days abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days, in the spring of the year, is still observed by the Yezidis or Pagan Devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by the Pagan Mexicans…Such a Lent of forty days was observed in Egypt…”
    Lent came from paganism, not from the Bible! (To learn more about the Lenten season, read our article “The True Meaning of Lent.”)
    Eggs, Egg Hunts and Easter
    Eggs have always been associated with the Easter celebration. Nearly every culture in the modern world has a long tradition of coloring eggs in beautiful and different ways. I once examined a traveling display of many kinds of beautifully decorated egg designs that represented the styles and traditions of virtually every country of modern Europe.
    Notice the following: “The origin of the Easter egg is based on the fertility lore of the Indo-European races…The egg to them was a symbol of spring…In Christian times the egg had bestowed upon it a religious interpretation, becoming a symbol of the rock tomb out of which Christ emerged to the new life of His resurrection” (Francis X. Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, p. 233). This is a direct example of exactly how pagan symbols and customs are “Christianized,” i.e., Christian-sounding names are superimposed over pagan customs. This is done to deceive—as well as make people feel better about why they are following a custom that is not in the Bible.
    Notice: “Around the Christian observance of Easter…folk customs have collected, many of which have been handed down from the ancient ceremonial…symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals…for example, eggs…have been very prominent as symbols of new life and resurrection” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333).
    Finally, the following comes from Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, James Bonwick, pp. 211-212: “Eggs were hung up in the Egyptian temples. Bunsen calls attention to the mundane egg, the emblem of generative life, proceeding from the mouth of the great god of Egypt. The mystic egg of Babylon, hatching the Venus Ishtar, fell from heaven to the Euphrates. Dyed eggs were sacred Easter offerings in Egypt, as they are still in China and Europe. Easter, or spring, was the season of birth, terrestrial and celestial.”
    What could be more plain in showing the true origin of the “Easter egg”? An “Easter” egg is just an egg that pertains to Easter. God never authorized Passover eggs or Days of Unleavened Bread eggs, but there have been Easter eggs for thousands of years!
    It naturally progressed that the egg, representing spring and fertility, would be merged into an already pagan springtime festival. Connecting this symbol to Christ’s Resurrection in the spring required much creativity and human reasoning. However, even highly creative human reasoning has never been able to successfully connect the next Easter symbol to anything Christian, because there is not a single word about it anywhere in the New Testament!
    The Easter Bunny
    Here are two additional quotes from Francis Weiser about the origin of the “Easter bunny”: “In Germany and Austria little nests containing eggs, pastry and candy are placed in hidden spots, and the children believe that the Easter bunny, so popular in this country, too, had laid the eggs and brought the candy” (p. 235) and “The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore…The Easter bunny has never had religious symbolism bestowed on its festive usage…However, the bunny has acquired a cherished role in the celebration of Easter as the legendary producer of Easter eggs for children in many countries” (p. 236).
    Here is further proof of the origin of Easter eggs and rabbits. It demonstrates how no one has ever been able to connect the Easter bunny to anything Christian, let alone to the Bible: “The Easter bunny is not a true Christian symbol” (John Bradner, Symbols of Church Seasons and Days, p. 52), and “Although adopted in a number of Christian cultures, the Easter bunny has never received any specific Christian interpretation” (Mirsea Eliade, The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 558).
    None of this will stop scores of millions of professing Christians from decorating their lawns and houses with Easter bunnies each spring.
    Consider this last quote: “The hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, a symbol that was kept later in Europe…Its place has been taken by the Easter rabbit” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333).
    Even in modern times, rabbits have remained common symbols of fertility. While their rapid rate of reproduction is well known, another problem arises with rabbits—they do not lay eggs! While both are clearly fertility symbols, there is no logical way to connect them. In a world filled with pagan tradition, truth and logic can be lost. Merging these symbols with Christianity makes an already idolatrous practice worse.
    There is nothing Christian about any of these symbols. The true history of these fertility symbols, rabbits and eggs, is completely unknown to all the unsuspecting children who have been led by adults to think them so special.
    The entire concept that these are Christian is a lie foisted on innocent children who will believe that “the moon is made of cheese” just because someone tells them so. While these are shocking facts, they are true nonetheless.
    A Counterfeit Savior?
    One of the central themes of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ came to die for mankind’s sins and offer redemption to a world cut off from God.
    The master counterfeiter (Satan the devil, called the “god of this world” in II Cor. 4:4) seeks to counterfeit every aspect of God’s plan. He “deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). As the arch-deceiver, he would not be content to counterfeit all other aspects of Christianity but not the identity and worship of the true Savior!
    Who is the real “savior” central to the “Easter Sunday” tradition? Is it the Jesus Christ of the Bible? If you say “yes,” are you sure? History answers this question plainly, with this:
    First notice that “…the conception of a Saviour-God was quite normal in the ancient pagan world…a conception of salvation underlies the notion of such Gods as Osiris, Attis, and Adonis…” (John M. Robertson, Christianity and Mythology, p. 395).
    And then this: “It has often been urged that this belief in the Resurrection of Jesus is due to ideas of divine resurrection current in the contemporary world…stories of Attis, Adonis, and Osiris…In the pagan stories the rising again is a joyous reversal of defeat; in the Christian story it is the complement of victorious death. It may be said that Attis and Osiris saved by rising again, Jesus by dying…the Easter observance did not arise at once out of belief in the Resurrection, but developed later by gradual stages out of the Jewish Pasch. The notion implied in the Easter greeting Christ is risen is a secondary development; the idea comes from this festival and from its occurrence in spring; the festival does not come from the idea. The idea of Christ’s resurrection was injected into the old practice of Easter observance and not the other way around” (A. Nock, Early Gentile Christianity and its Hellenistic Background, pp. 105-107).
    And, finally, the powerful theme of this oft-repeated counterfeit is made most clear by the famous historian, James George Frazer: “Now the death and resurrection of Attis were officially celebrated at Rome on the 24th and 25th of March, the latter being regarded as the spring equinox, and…according to an ancient and widespread tradition Christ suffered on the 25th of March…the tradition which placed the death of Christ on the 25th of March…is all the more remarkable because astronomical considerations prove that it can have had no historical foundation…When we remember that the festival of St. George in April has replaced the ancient pagan festival of the Parilia; that the festival of St. John the Baptist in June has succeeded to a heathen Midsummer festival of water; that the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin in August has ousted the festival of Diana; that the feast of All Souls [following Halloween] in November is a continuation of an old heathen feast of the dead; and that the Nativity of Christ himself was assigned to the winter solstice in December because that day was deemed the Nativity of the Sun; we can hardly be thought to be rash or unreasonable in conjecturing that the other cardinal festival of the Christian church—the solemnization of Easter—may have been in like manner, and from like motives of edification, adapted to a similar celebration of the Phyrigian god Attis at the vernal equinox…It is a remarkable coincidence…that the Christian and the heathen festivals of the divine death and resurrection should have been solemnized at the same season…It is difficult to regard the coincidence as purely accidental” (The Golden Bough, Vol. I, pp. 306-309).
    We can summarize the above source. The Roman Catholic Church had a practice of incorporating pagan festivals—of pasting “Christian” names over them and calling them “Christian.” This was done to make “Christianity” more palatable and familiar to heathen worshippers, whom the Church was trying to attract. How did such a state of affairs develop?
    It can now be better understood why the apostle Paul wrote the Corinthians to beware of the subtle deceit of “another Jesus whom we have not preached.” He said, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted…” (II Cor. 11:3-4).
    People today can think that they are worshipping the true Savior when they are really worshipping a false savior—another Jesus! The entirety of traditional Christianity is actually worshipping Baal, the mediator and sun god, who was named after his “wife” Ishtar (who was actually his mother Semiramis)—who we will later see is the one the Bible calls the “Queen of Heaven.”
    People can worship in ways that represent things that are far different than what they sincerely believe or intend. Consider the following classic example.
    Sunrise Services
    Sunrise services are mentioned in the Bible. But what God says about this custom is not what you expect. Notice these astonishing verses. The prophet Ezekiel was being shown, in vision, an important prophecy concerning the sins of God’s people in our time.
    The entire context of these verses needs to be examined carefully to understand the heightening condemnation toward which God builds in His conclusion: “…Turn you yet again, and you shall see greater abominations that they do…and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz…And He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and theyworshipped the sun toward the east. Then He said unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing…that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they…have returned to provoke Me to anger…Therefore will I also deal in fury: Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” (Ezek. 8:13-18).
    Observing sunrise services is serious to God! He so hates this vile practice that He will ultimately destroy all who persist in it (Ezek. 9)!
    It is no “light thing” to God that many millions do this every Easter! It may seem “beautiful,” “religious,” and “deeply moving” to those participating in it, but God has forbidden His true people to devise their own religious customs and ideas. He is not interested in what peoplemay personally feel or think is right. He is interested in those who care about what He thinks!As far as God is concerned, ancient sun worship, dressed up in Easter finery and bonnets, is just modern packaging of a very old, idolatrous pagan custom.
    Consider God’s own words in Deuteronomy 12:28-32 (NKJ): “Observe and obey all these words which I command you…When…you…dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them…and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods…Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
    God tells Christians to never mix what is godly with what is pagan—or the true with the false! Do not let men tell you that what God says makes no difference. It does!
    Hot Cross Buns
    When I was in the first grade, all the children in my class had to sing a solo of his or her choice. I will never forget this terrifying moment. I was so embarrassed and nervous that I picked the shortest song in our little songbook, “Hot Cross Buns,” and sang it before the class. Of course, I had no idea what I was singing. Though short (it was only fifteen words), I have never forgotten the lesson of its meaning.
    Notice Jeremiah 7:18: “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.” The cakes offered to the queen of heaven were these same hot cross buns that millions of children sing about today (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, p. 107). What seems so innocent is not innocent at all.
    Who is the “queen of heaven”?
    Ashtaroth—The Queen of Heaven
    Astarte (Easter)-worship was always associated with the worship of Baal or sun worship. Astarte was Baal’s wife. Notice that another name for Astarte was Ashtaroth. The following quote makes this point clear: “What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven…Now, the Assyrian goddess, or Astarte, is identified with Semiramis by Athenagoras (Legatio, vol. ii. p. 179), and by Lucian (De Dea Syria, vol iii. p. 382)…Now, no name could more exactly picture forth the character of Semiramis, as queen of Babylon, than the name of ‘Asht-tart,’ for that just means ‘The woman that made towers’…Ashturit, then…is obviously the same as the Hebrew ‘Ashtoreth’” (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pp. 103, 307-308).
    Notice this conclusive quote from Microsoft Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia: “Ishtar was the Great Mother, the goddess of fertility and the QUEEN OF HEAVEN.” So, in actuality, Ashtaroth (Ishtar) was Nimrod’s harlotrous, mother/wife widow, Semiramis, as many other ancient historians attest! Easter is now established as none other than the Ashtaroth of the Bible! We can now examine the scriptures that show how God views the worship of this pagan goddess—by any name!
    God Calls Easter Evil
    Now that we know that Easter is the goddess Ashtaroth, we need to look into the Bible and see what God thinks of her. Look at this verse: “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD…And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth [Easter]” (Jdg. 2:11,13).
    The context shows that God allowed His people to be taken from their land into captivity as a result of this sin! It continues, explaining how God delivered His people over and over again through a series of judges. After each deliverance, Israel returned to the same false gods, which in turn brought another captivity, via conquest by the nations around them. They never seemed to learn, as verse 19 makes clear: “And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves…in following other gods…and…they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.” In chapter 10, verse 6, Israel repeats this pattern of stubbornness. And God, just as stubbornly, still calls it evil.
    Baal and Ashtaroth worship reappeared during Samuel’s time. Samuel told Israel, “…put awaythe strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, andserve Him only…Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served theLORD only” (I Sam. 7:3-4). Later, in I Samuel 12:10-11, Samuel publicly recounted Israel’s history to them. He reminded them that they continually returned to obeying God, only to fall backwards into idolatry again and again!
    It has been said that “The only thing man has learned from history is that no one learns from history.” George Santayana took it further, saying, “Those who do not learn the lesson of history are doomed to repeat it.”
    This lesson describes ancient Israel—but it also describes today’s modern world. Because Israel could not stay on track, they were eventually taken into captivity, becoming lost to history! After one more captivity and punishment, prophecy reveals that Christ will gather them for the last time at His Return.
    One Final Example
    The Bible states that King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. Yet, he made a mistake that God considered so great that, after his death, He punished Solomon by removing the kingdom from his son.
    His mistake?
    He married a woman who led him into the worship of Easter (Ashtaroth). Notice I Kings 11:4-6: “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods…For Solomon went after Ashtaroth the goddess of the Zidonians…And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.” Verses 11-12demonstrate that the kingdom was taken from his son.
    Two Churches: The Great Switch
    There are two completely different churches pictured in the New Testament. One, the true Church that Jesus built, is described as the bride of Christ, forsaking involvements with this world and its customs in order to be pure when He comes for her. But, throughout the New Testament, it was prophesied that false teachers would creep in and gain control of the church organization. True Christians would have to flee from many of their original congregations to continue to obey God. They would, therefore, be a “little flock,” often scattered, never having political power in this world.
    The world has kept little track of this small, scattered, persecuted Church, but Christ promised that He would never leave or forsake it and that “the gates of hell [the grave] shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Though it has periodically had to scatter for its life (Acts 8:1; Dan. 12:7), Christ has faithfully kept His promise to remain with it, empowering and strengthening it through His Spirit. Despite continual persecution—even during periods of great martyrdom by the large popular churches that have always sought to destroy it—a remnant has always remained throughout the last nearly 2,000 years. It has continued to “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12).
    God has always commanded His Church not to keep pagan festivals! This little Church has been willing to obey Him. The entire inset 12th chapter of Revelation gives a brief overview of its history, right up to and through the time that God protects it just before the Return of Christ.
    Paul warned the Thessalonian congregation, “…the mystery of iniquity does already work” (II Thes. 2:7). This mystery was already having an influence within the true Church just twenty years after Christ established it in 31 A.D. It was the very Chaldean Mystery, embodied in Christmas and Easter—its two greatest festivals! Invariably, the arrival of these false pagan celebrations required true Christians to flee.
    It is this same pattern at work that has caused this booklet to have to be written. Since the death of Herbert W. Armstrong (the leader of the Church of God from 1934 to 1986), the prophesied “falling away” (the Greek word apostasia here means “to defect from truth”) before the Return of Christ (II Thes. 2:1-3) has now occurred. Many of Mr. Armstrong’s writings are no longer available and all have been rewritten by The Restored Church of God.
    Thus, the previously described true Church organization joined the other church, portrayed as a harlotrous queen (like Semiramis/Easter) riding a beast with seven heads (Rev. 17). These heads represent the historic revivals of the Holy Roman Empire. This whorish woman symbolizes a powerful, politically organized church. Gradually, this church, centered at Rome, adopted more and more pagan doctrines and practices until the only discernible difference between it and pagan religion was its use of the name of Jesus Christ. This is how Easter came to be celebrated in place of the true Christian Passover.
    This “mother church” has many “daughter denominations,” and the entire system masquerades under the banner of “Christianity,” when they are really the “Babylon Mystery Religion.” The Bible pictures her as a universal deceiver with all “Christian” countries made drunk with her false doctrines! She is pictured as being made drunk with the blood of the saints, while, at the same time, bragging that she is the true church. All of her daughters have adopted her pagan practices.
    The Quartodeciman Controversy: From Passover to Easter
    What does history say about how and when the idolatrous pagan festival of Easter came to replace the Passover service ordained by God? A series of extensive quotes tell this story—commonly referred to as the “Quartodeciman Controversy.” Several sources are quoted so that the story of how the counterfeit Easter came to replace Passover will be perfectly clear. This problem—Passover versus Easter—became so pivotal, as a test of the power of the great church that wished to stamp out the “little flock,” that eventually disobedience brought thedeath sentence upon any who continued to keep either God’s Sabbath or His true festivals.
    Make no mistake! Whether one keeps God’s Passover or celebrates the pagan Easter isserious!
    First notice the following by Eusebius (a well-known historian of the early Church) from his work, Ecclesiastical History, Book V, chapters XXIII and XXIV: “A question of no small importance arose at that time. For the parishes of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the fourteenth day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should be observed as the feast of the Saviour’s passover…the bishops of Asia, led by Polycrates, decided to hold to the old custom handed down to them. He himself, in a letter which he addressed to Victor and the church of Rome, set forth in the following words the tradition which had come down to him:
    “We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles…and, moreover, John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord…and Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumenia…the bishop and martyr Sagaris…the blessed Papirius, or Melito…All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith.”
    The 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia states, “Quartodeciman, a term used to describe the practice in the early Church of celebrating Easter on the 14th of Nisan (die quarta decima), the day of the Jewish Passover (Ex. 12:6). Quartodecimanism, prevalent in Asia Minor and Syria in the 2nd century, emphasized the death of Christ, the true Paschal victim (Jn. 18:28; 19:42), while Roman practice emphasized the observance of Sunday as the day of the Resurrection. Implicit in these two positions is the disputed chronology of Holy Week. As Christianity separated from Judaism, gentile Christians objected to observing the principal Christian feasts on the same day as the Jewish Passover.
    “Roman efforts to induce the Quartodecimans to abandon their practice were unsuccessful. On a visit to Rome (c. 155), St. Polycarp of Smyrna amicably discussed the question with Pope Anicetus without, however, reaching agreement. Pope Victor (189-198) sought unity through a series of synods held in both East and West; all accepted the Roman practice except the Asiatic bishops. When Victor attempted coercion by excommunication, St. Irenaeus of Lyons intervened to restore peace (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 5.23-25). During the 3rd century Quartodecimanism waned; it persisted in some Asiatic communities down to the 5th century” (Vol. 12, p. 13).
    The following very lengthy statement from the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition, well summarizes and details the story of how Easter slowly came to replace the Passover by A.D. 325 within visible, organized “Christianity”: “Although the observance of Easter was at a very early period in the practice of the Christian Church [false], a serious difference as to the day for its observance soon arose between the [true] Christians of Jewish and those of Gentile decent, which led to a long and bitter controversy…The Jewish Christians…(observed) the 14th day of the moon at evening…without regard to the day of the week. The Gentile Christians (Roman Catholics)…identified the first day of the week with the resurrection, and kept the preceding Friday as the commemoration of the crucifixion, irrespective of the day of the month.
    “Generally speaking, the Western Churches (Roman Catholic) kept Easter on the 1st day of the week, while the Eastern Churches [including the remnant of the true Church] followed the Jewish rule [the true Christian Passover].
    “Polycarp, the disciple of John the Evangelist (last of the 12 apostles), and bishop of Smyrna, visited Rome in 159 (sic) to confer with Anicetus, the bishop of that see, on the subject, and urged the tradition which he had received from the apostles of observing the 14th day. Anicetus, however, declined. About forty years later (197), the question was discussed in a very different spirit between Victor, bishop of Rome, and Polycrates, metropolitan of proconsular Asia. That province [embracing churches founded through the apostle Paul, like Antioch and all of those identified in Revelation 2 and 3 as the true Church] was the only portion of Christendom which still adhered to the Jewish usage. Victor demanded that all should adopt the usage prevailing at Rome. This Polycrates firmly refused to agree to, and urged many weighty reasons to the contrary, whereupon Victor proceeded to excommunicate Polycrates and the Christians who continued the [correct] Eastern usage. He was, however, restrained (by counsel from other bishops) from actually proceeding to enforce the decree of excommunication…and the Asiatic churches retained their usage unmolested. We find the Jewish usage (the true New Testament Passover) from time to time reasserting itself after this, but it never prevailed to any large extent.
    “A final settlement of the dispute was one among the other reasons which led Constantine [Roman Emperor] to summon the council at Nicaea in 325. At that time the Syrians and Antiochenes were the solitary champions of the observance of the 14th day. The decision of the council was unanimous that Easter was to be kept on Sunday, and on the same Sunday throughout the world, and that none hereafter should follow the blindness of the Jews. [Or, in other words, no one was allowed to follow the example of Christ and the true Church He founded!]…The FEW who afterwards separated themselves from the unity of the [politically organized] church, and continued to keep the 14th day, were named Quartodecimani [from the Latin word for 14], and the dispute itself is known as the Quartodeciman controversy” (Vol. VIII, pp. 828-829).
    This is a very powerful quote making absolutely plain the full story of what happened and howit happened. History records that Polycarp was martyred on the way back from Rome (burned to death in a farmhouse), just days after his meeting with Anicetus over the issue of keeping Passover or Easter. He was almost certainly killed because he would not compromise regarding the proper keeping of the Passover.
    The 1967 New Catholic Encyclopedia states this: “Occasionally, the Quartodecimans celebrated Easter on the day that other Christians were observing Good Friday. Originally both observances were allowed, but gradually it was felt incongruous that Christians should celebrate Easter on a Jewish feast, and unity in celebrating the principal Christian feast was called for” (Vol. 5, p. 8).
    Now read this quote from the same source, concluding the matter of how the Council of Nicea “decided,” for all, the matter of Easter versus Passover: “As for Easter, the Fathers decreed (1) that all Christians should observe it on the same day, (2) that Jewish customs should not be followed, and (3) that the practice of the West, of Egypt, and of other Churches should remain in force, namely, of celebrating Easter on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox” (Vol. 5, p. 433).
    The 1909 edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia says, “After the Pope’s strong measures the Quarterdecimans seemed to have gradually dwindled away. Origen in the “Philosophumena” (VIII, xviii) seems to regard them as a mere handful of wrong-headed nonconformists. SECOND PHASE—The second stage of the Easter controversy centers around the Council of Nicaea [A.D. 325] granting that the great Easter festival was always to be held on a Sunday, and was not to be coincident with a particular phase of the moon, which might occur on any day of the week” (Vol. 5, p. 228).
    The truth is that the Passover was always tied directly to the moon, regardless of the day of the week on which it fell! (The word month is derived from moon.) The 14th day of Nisan (Abib) was God’s instruction (Exodus 12:1-6)—not the nearest Sunday to this or any other date.
    This same edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia, when describing the final decision at Nicaea in A.D. 325, quotes the words of the Emperor Constantine, writing to all the churches: “At this meeting the question concerning the most holy day of Easter was discussed, and it was resolved by the united judgment of all present that this feast ought to be kept by all and in every place on one and the same day…And first of all it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin…for we have received from our Saviour a different way [this is false because Christ did not ever instruct “a different way”]…And I myself have undertaken that this decision should meet with the approval of your Sagacities in the hope that your Wisdoms will gladly admit that practice which is observed at once in the city of Rome and in Africa, throughout Italy and in Egypt…with entire unity of judgment.” (Vol. 5, p. 228).
    Finally, this same source continues a few paragraphs later with, “The final decision always lay with accepted ecclesiastical authority…was primarily a matter of ecclesiastical discipline and not astronomical science” (p. 229). These two short phrases make it clear that church authority at Rome, and not God’s Word, determined whether Easter or the Passover would be kept.
    Only the “few” remained faithful to the truth—and it has always been this way. Eventually, as the false pagan church grew in political influence, the death penalty was imposed on anyone found keeping God’s seventh-day Sabbath or His other Festivals, such as the Passover. True Christians have always had to flee to wherever they could continue keeping God’s commandments and truths. (Read our free book Where Is the True Church? – and Its Incredible History!)
    Throughout the centuries, though ignored and persecuted by the world, these same Christians (a single true Church of God) have always held to and kept the truth of God on this vital doctrinal point—as well as many other true biblical doctrines!
    The Passover Was Commanded
    We have already seen that God never instructed, but rather actually commanded against,keeping Easter. It has always been His purpose that the Passover should be kept once a year—forever. The early portions of this booklet briefly discussed the New Testament instruction to keep the Passover through the newly instituted symbols of the bread and wine.
    The New Testament Passover also includes an ordinance of humility called the footwashing. This instruction is found in John 13:2-15 and was commanded by Christ to be taught to all who would learn God’s doctrines. Christ commanded His disciples, “Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them…Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20).
    This instruction includes the Passover, with the footwashing and the symbols of the bread and wine. It also includes keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread and the rest of God’s annual feast days. If you are determined to no longer participate in this world’s Easter tradition, then the previously offered booklet How Often Should the Lord’s Supper Be Taken? will help you learn what is entailed in keeping God’s New Testament Passover service. The Restored Church of God can help you learn how to do this.
    What Will You Do?
    Can Easter be kept “in honor of Christ”? Some may say, “Okay, I know Easter comes from paganism—but I’m not pagan! I celebrate it in honor of Christ. I focus on Him.” Because God knew that Israel would feel this way when they encountered the religious customs of pagan nations, and would try to use false customs to honor the true God, He gave the instruction inDeuteronomy 12:28-32. God always commanded that people worship Him exactly as He instructed! So did Christ.
    Read our free booklet Christ’s Resurrection Was NOT on Sunday. It explains how and why the “Sunday Resurrection” idea came into use as a means of endorsing Sunday-keeping (worshipping on the day of the sun, or the sun’s day) in place of keeping God’s true Sabbath day. Also read our related article, “Christ’s Crucifixion Was Not on Friday.”
    Jesus told the Pharisees, “Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition…in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:6, 9). Mark’s parallel account adds an important element: “Full well you REJECT the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (7:9). These verses have clear application to those who reject the Passover that they may keep pagan Easter.
    Hundreds of millions keep the rank idolatrous pagan feast known as Easter, believing themselves to be honoring Jesus Christ! Most are in complete ignorance of what they are doing. God’s answer to all is “…the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30)!
    From Easter Back to the Passover
    The following is from the conclusion of Herbert W. Armstrong’s booklet The Plain Truth About EASTER. It follows a brief overview of the importance of keeping God’s Passover instead of pagan Easter:
    “We need to return to the faith once delivered. Let us humbly and obediently observe this sacred ordinance [Passover] as we are commanded, at the scriptural time, after sunset, the 14th of Abib [Nisan] according to the Sacred Calendar.”
    ​
    The Pagan Origin Of Easter
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    ​
    Easter is a day that is honered by nearly all of contemporary Christianity and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
    The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an "Easter Ham", decorated eggs and stories about rabbits.
    Those who love truth learn to ask questions, and many questions must be asked regarding the holiday of Easter.
    Is it truly the day when Jesus arose from the dead? Where did all of the strange customs come from, which have nothing to do with the resurrection of our Saviour?
    The purpose of this tract is to help answer those questions, and to help those who seek truth to draw their own conclusions.
    The first thing we must understand is that professing Christians were not the only ones who celebrated a festival called "Easter."
    "Ishtar", which is pronounced "Easter" was a day that commemorated the resurrection of one of their gods that they called "Tammuz", who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god.
    In those ancient times, there was a man named Nimrod, who was the grandson of one of Noah's son named Ham.
    Ham had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis.Cush and Semiramis then had a son named him "Nimrod."
    After the death of his father, Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful King.
    The Bible tells of of this man, Nimrod, in Genesis 10:8-10 as follows: "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad,and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."
    Nimrod became a god-man to the people and Semiramis, his wife and mother, became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon.
    Nimrod was eventually killed by an enemy, and his body was cut in pieces and sent to various parts of his kingdom.
    Semiramis had all of the parts gathered, except for one part that could not be found.
    That missing part was his reproductive organ. Semiramis claimed that Nimrod could not come back to life without it and told the people of Babylon that Nimrod had ascended to the sun and was now to be called "Baal", the sun god.
    Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal would be present on earth in the form of a flame, whether candle or lamp, when used in worship.
    Semiramis was creating a mystery religion, and with the help of Satan, she set herself up as a goddess.
    Semiramis claimed that she was immaculately conceived.
    She taught that the moon was a goddess that went through a 28 day cycle and ovulated when full.
    She further claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River.
    This was to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox.
    Semiramis became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced "Easter", and her moon egg became known as "Ishtar's" egg."
    Ishtar soon became pregnant and claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that caused her to conceive.
    The son that she brought forth was named Tammuz.
    Tammuz was noted to be especially fond of rabbits, and they became sacred in the ancient religion, because Tammuz was believed to be the son of the sun-god, Baal. Tammuz, like his supposed father, became a hunter.
    The day came when Tammuz was killed by a wild pig.
    Queen Ishtar told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal, and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit.
    Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the "Mother of God and Queen of Heaven", continued to build her mystery religion.
    The queen told the worshippers that when Tammuz was killed by the wild pig, some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz.
    She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz.
    During this time, no meat was to be eaten.
    Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and to make the sign of the "T" in front of their hearts as they worshipped.
    They also ate sacred cakes with the marking of a "T" or cross on the top.
    Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, a celebration was made.
    It was Ishtar's Sunday and was celebrated with rabbits and eggs.
    Ishtar also proclaimed that because Tammuz was killed by a pig, that a pig must be eaten on that Sunday.
    By now, the readers of this tract should have made the connection that paganism has infiltrated the contemporary "Christian" churches, and further study indicates that this paganism came in by way of the Roman Catholic System.
    The truth is that Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    We also know that Easter can be as much as three weeks away from the Passover, because the pagan holiday is always set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
    Some have wondered why the word "Easter" is in the the King James Bible.
    It is because Acts, chapter 12, tells us that it was the evil King Herod, who was planning to celebrate Easter, and not the Christians.
    The true Passover and pagan Easter sometimes coincide, but in some years, they are a great distance apart.
    So much more could be said, and we have much more information for you, if you are a seeker of the truth.
    We know that the Bible tells us in John 4:24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
    The truth is that the forty days of Lent, eggs, rabbits,hot cross buns and the Easter ham have everything to do with the ancient pagan religion of Mystery Babylon.These are all antichrist activities!
    Satan is a master deceiver, and has filled the lives of well-meaning, professing Christians with idolatry.
    These things bring the wrath of God upon children of disobedience, who try to make pagan customs of Baal worship Christian.
    You must answer for your activities and for what you teach your children.
    These customs of Easter honor Baal, who is also Satan, and is still worshipped as the "Rising Sun" and his house is the "House of the Rising Sun."
    How many churches have "sunrise services" on Ishtar's day and face the rising sun in the East?
    How many will use colored eggs and rabbit stories, as they did in ancient Babylon.
    These things are no joke, any more than Judgement day is a joke.
    I pray to God that this tract will cause you to search for more truth.
    We will be glad to help you by providing more information and by praying for you.
    These are the last days, and it is time to repent, come out and be separate.
    David J. Meyer
    Last Trumpet Ministries International
    PO Box 806
    Beaver Dam, WI 53916
    Origin of Easter - A Christian Commemoration
    The origin of Easter, a holiday associated with the observance of theresurrection of Jesus Christ, is actually based on an ancient pagan celebration. Christians recognize this day as commemorating the culminating event of their faith, but like so many other "Christian" holidays, Easter has become commercialized and mixed with non-christian traditions like the Easter Bunny, Easter parades and hunting for Easter eggs. How did this happen?
    Origin of Easter - Its Pagan Roots
    The origin of Easter dates back to ancient times, not long after the global Flood recorded in Genesis 6-9 of the Bible. Nimrod, a grandson of Noah, had turned from following his grandfather's God and had become a tyrannical ruler. According to the biblical record, as king, Nimrod created Babel, Ninevah, Asshur, Calla and other cities, all known for lifestyles that promoted unspeakable evil and perversion. When Nimrod died, his wife, Queen Semiramis, deified him as the Sun-god, or Life Giver. Later he would become known as Baal, and those who followed the religion Semiramis created in his name would be called Baal worshippers. They became associated with idolatry, demon worship, human sacrifice and other practices regarded as evil.
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    The origin of Easter involves the birth of Semiramis' illegitimate son, Tammuz. Somehow, Semiramis convinced the people that Tammuz was actually Nimrod reborn. Since people had been looking for the promised savior since the beginning of mankind (see Genesis 3:15), they were persuaded by Semiramis to believe that Tammuz was that savior, even that he had been supernaturally conceived. Before long, in addition to worshipping Tammuz (or Nimrod reborn), the people also worshipped Semiramis herself as the goddess of fertility. In other cultures, she has been called Ishtar, Ashtur and yes, Easter.
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    The origin of Easter goes back to the springtime ritual instituted by Semiramis following the death of Tammuz, who, according to tradition, was killed by a wild boar. Legend has it that through the power of his mother's tears, Tammuz was "resurrected" in the form of the new vegetation that appeared on the earth.
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    According to the Bible, it was in the city of Babel that the people created a tower in order to defy God. Up until that time, all the people on the earth spoke one language. The building of the tower led God, as recorded in Genesis 11:7, to confuse their tongues to keep them from being further unified in their false beliefs. As the people moved into other lands, many of them took their pagan practices with them.
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    Contemporary traditions such as the Easter Bunny and the Easter egg can also be traced back to the practices established by Semiramis. Because of their prolific nature, rabbits have long been associated with fertility and its goddess, Ishtar. Ancient Babylonians believed in a fable about an egg that fell into the Euphrates River from heaven and from which Queen Astarte (another name for Ishtar or Semiramis) was "hatched."
    Origin of Easter - Resurrection Day for Christians
    For Christians, the origin of Easter is simply the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ about 2,000 years ago. According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus Christ, the true Messiah promised in the Old Testament, was crucified and resurrected at the time of the Jewish Passover. Since that awesome event took place, those who believe Christ is their Messiah have honored that day and often celebrated it with the traditional Passover. As the Gospel of Christ spread throughout non-jewish nations, among people who did not have a history of celebrating the Passover, the pagan rites of Easter gradually became assimilated into what the Christian church called "Resurrection Day." Compromising the commandments of God with the comfort of the world is as old as the nation of Israel itself. Actually, American history teaches us that Easter was dismissed as a pagan holiday by the nation's founding Puritans and did not begin to be widely observed until just after the Civil War. Those interested in a Christian view of American history and the gradual compromise of America's Biblical foundations may wish to read books such as The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel.
    ​

      • Romans 14:4–6NASB95

      • Luke 24:1NASB95

      • Acts 20:7NASB95

      • 1 Corinthians 16:1–2NASB95

      • Revelation 1:10NASB95

      • Matthew 15:1–9NASB95

      • Ezekiel 8:13–18NASB95

      • Mark 1:35NASB95

      • Romans 14:13–19NASB95

      • 1 Corinthians 15:1–4NASB95

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