Easter's roots are Passover

Since this is Easter weekend, several of my friends on Facebook have posted this link from Christianity today, an article that discusses the likelihood that Easter did not start as a pagan holiday. Perhaps my friends have not read the entire article, but the gist is that Easter originated with Passover, and there is proof that "Passover/Easter" was observed at least by the second century Christians. Interesting, when so many churches claim that observance of Passover by Christians came to an end at the cross!

I do believe that the celebration of Christ's resurrection started in the churches as a Christian celebration, though it was not called Easter in the early church. In time, Christians changed some of their practices because they didn't want to be identified with Jews who were under persecution. Notably, they avoided seventh-day Sabbath worship in favor of Sunday, choosing an annual Sunday via the solar calendar for the resurrection celebration instead of at Passover, and changing the other festivals ordained by God ("thinking to change times and laws" Dan. 7:25). The Quartodeciman controversy deals with the dating change for the Paschal (Passover) season and is an interesting study. The Easter celebration became saddled with other traditions related to fertility goddesses over the years.

Many of those who question some of the Easter practices and date have claimed that the name, Easter, came from a pagan goddess, and this the article does not deny. The celebration, however, started -- and morphed -- from Passover, certainly not from a pagan holiday.

The name Easter, the article states, comes from "April, Eosturmonath … Eosturmonath has a name which is now (italics supplied) translated "Paschal month" and which was once called after a goddess... named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month." The Christianity Today article adds:

The Nordic/Germanic peoples (including the Anglo-Saxons) were comparative latecomers to Christianity. Pope Gregory I sent a missionary enterprise led by Augustine of Canterbury to the Anglo-Saxons in 596/7. The forcible conversion of the Saxons in Europe began under Charlemagne in 772. Hence, if "Easter" (i.e. the Christian Passover festival) was celebrated prior to those dates, any supposed pagan Anglo-Saxon festival of "Eostre" can have no significance. And there is, in fact, clear evidence that Christians celebrated an Easter/Passover festival by the second century, if not earlier. It follows that the Christian Easter/Passover celebration, which originated in the Mediterranean basin, was not influenced by any Germanic pagan festival.

Isn't it interesting that they focus entirely on only the possibility of Germanic influence -- and that it only focuses on the practices of that time? It does not address how Germanic practices may or may not have influenced Easter in later years.

It is also interesting that hardly any information on Eostre as a goddess can be found in history. Most of what is said comes from various writers quoting each other. More than one website says something to this effect:

In case you think we’re being flippant, recent research suggests that EOSTRE herself may have been invented during a mischievous moment by the Venerable St BEDE. This well-known monk mentioned her in connection with the pagan festival Eosturmonath in a book written in 750 A.D. — but extensive research has failed to find a trace of her prior to that. Could he possibly have been fibbing? from godchecker.com

Some suspect that Eostre, if she did exist, is the germanic name for the goddess Asherah, the "Queen of Heaven," mentioned in the Bible, and when the Israelites apostatized, they often had "Asherah poles" erected, a sign of their apostasy from worshiping the true God. Other counterparts for this goddess are Astarte, Asherah, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, Innanna, Ostara, Isis, Aphrodite, and Artemis.  All of these goddesses were connected with love and fertility, and some of their traditions have become a part of Easter celebrations, including rabbits, eggs, and hot cross buns.

Is Eostre one of this group of goddess names? Many have made that suggestion, but since there is no apparent history of her before the Venerable St. Bede, it cannot be known for certain. To use Eostre as proof that Easter was not a pagan holiday is poor scholarship, at best, and misses the whole point of whether or not Easter has pagan components.

My conclusion is that Easter started with the Passover celebration, so it's original roots are not pagan, but that over the centuries elements from pagan spring fertility rites crept into the Easter season.

It is my personal choice to observe Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread on God's calendar (14th day of the first month), remembering the blessing of our salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, Yeshua Hamashiach, who came to save us from sin, which is represented by leavening. Sin is still with us now, but someday it will be gone forever, so that is the pointing forward of Unleavened Bread. I can't help but feel a thrill when I think of it!