Easter Is Near

[Davy]

Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday, and He rose on a Sunday. And below is the Biblical proof.

Easter is a Christian celebration about the time that Jesus Christ rose from His tomb. Yet the word "Easter" in Acts 12:4 was added by the KJV translators. The actual Greek word is 'pascha', which means 'passover'.

In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Apostle Paul said, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:".

Our Lord Jesus Christ was thus sacrificed for us according to God's requirement for the Old Testament passover while the children of Israel were under His protection from the death angel in Egypt.

The passover lamb was to be sacrificed on the preparation day of Nissan 14, at evening. Then the children of Israel were to smear its blood upon the door posts so the death angel would pass by that house, and they were to roast it, and eat the passover that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, leaving nothing till morning, but what remained shall be burned with fire. And God told them to eat it in haste, with their loins girded and shoes on their feet, and staff in their hand. The first day of the feast was to be a holy convocation, like a sabbath with no servile work done on that day. (See Exodus 12).


Lord Jesus said He would be in the heart of the earth for "three days and three nights".

Matt 12:40
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
KJV

Anytime a period of 'a day and a night' is mentioned in God's Word, it is pointing to the full 24 hour period of a calendar day. The day/night is divided up into two 12 hour periods, the latter night 12 hour period uses the idea of military 'watches'.

The children of Israel historically divided up the night period into 3 separate military 'watches':

1st -- from sunset to 10 P.M. at night, called "beginning of the watches" (Lam.2:19)
2nd -- from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M., called the middle watch (Judges 7:19)
3rd -- from 2 A.M. to sunrise around 6 A.M., the morning watch (Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11)

Thus the "night" watches made up 3 periods of 4 hours each, or 12 hours total. That was per the Old Testament times.

Under the later Roman system of watches, they held to FOUR watches of the night, an evening watch, a midnight watch, cock-crowing watch, morning watch (See Mark 13:35). These were divided up into 3 hour sections, which still meant 12 hours of the "night".

My point with this is to be accurate about the time when Lord Jesus was crucified and then arose, based on what He said about His body being in the heart of the earth for "three days and three nights" meaning a literal division of a 24 hour calendar day, with a 12 hour daylight period and a 12 hour night time period. With that established, then we may begin accurately to determine the preparation day when He was crucified unto the day of His resurrection on Sunday morning.

Another Biblical requirement for accuracy is that the Hebrew calendar reckoning MUST be used. That means a calendar day per the Hebrew reckoning means from 'sunset to sunset'. Our Gregorian calendar system uses from 'midnight to midnight', and that has caused many to error in this timing.

Start on Wednesday, the Preparation Day, the day the passover lamb was to be sacrificed, at evening Nissan 14.

Wednesday evening prior to sunset = Jesus crucified and buried in haste before sunset.
Wednesday Nissan 14 sunset to Thursday dawn = 1st night
Thursday dawn to Thursday sunset = 1st day
Thursday sunset to Friday dawn = 2nd night
Friday dawn to Friday sunset = 2nd day
Friday sunset to Saturday dawn = 3rd night
Saturday dawn to Saturday sunset = 3rd day
Saturday sunset to Sunday dawn = Lord Jesus rose sometime between sunset and dawn.


The ONLY way that Lord Jesus' prophecy of His being in the heart of the earth for a literal period of "three days and three nights" can work, is that if Nissan 14 was the day He was crucified being a Wednesday evening just prior to sunset. Nissan 14 at evening was the time of the passover lamb sacrifice God required per Exodus 12, and Lord Jesus' crucifixion fit it exactly.

The idea that Lord Jesus was crucified on a FRIDAY is simply a tradition begun by men.There is no way to pack "three days and three nights" into a period from Friday to Sunday morning before dawn.

 

[Robert Gwin]

Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday, and He rose on a Sunday. And below is the Biblical proof.

Easter is a Christian celebration about the time that Jesus Christ rose from His tomb. Yet the word "Easter" in Acts 12:4 was added by the KJV translators. The actual Greek word is 'pascha', which means 'passover'.

In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Apostle Paul said, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:".

Our Lord Jesus Christ was thus sacrificed for us according to God's requirement for the Old Testament passover while the children of Israel were under His protection from the death angel in Egypt.

The passover lamb was to be sacrificed on the preparation day of Nissan 14, at evening. Then the children of Israel were to smear its blood upon the door posts so the death angel would pass by that house, and they were to roast it, and eat the passover that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, leaving nothing till morning, but what remained shall be burned with fire. And God told them to eat it in haste, with their loins girded and shoes on their feet, and staff in their hand. The first day of the feast was to be a holy convocation, like a sabbath with no servile work done on that day. (See Exodus 12).


Lord Jesus said He would be in the heart of the earth for "three days and three nights".

Matt 12:40
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
KJV

Anytime a period of 'a day and a night' is mentioned in God's Word, it is pointing to the full 24 hour period of a calendar day. The day/night is divided up into two 12 hour periods, the latter night 12 hour period uses the idea of military 'watches'.

The children of Israel historically divided up the night period into 3 separate military 'watches':

1st -- from sunset to 10 P.M. at night, called "beginning of the watches" (Lam.2:19)
2nd -- from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M., called the middle watch (Judges 7:19)
3rd -- from 2 A.M. to sunrise around 6 A.M., the morning watch (Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11)

Thus the "night" watches made up 3 periods of 4 hours each, or 12 hours total. That was per the Old Testament times.

Under the later Roman system of watches, they held to FOUR watches of the night, an evening watch, a midnight watch, cock-crowing watch, morning watch (See Mark 13:35). These were divided up into 3 hour sections, which still meant 12 hours of the "night".

My point with this is to be accurate about the time when Lord Jesus was crucified and then arose, based on what He said about His body being in the heart of the earth for "three days and three nights" meaning a literal division of a 24 hour calendar day, with a 12 hour daylight period and a 12 hour night time period. With that established, then we may begin accurately to determine the preparation day when He was crucified unto the day of His resurrection on Sunday morning.

Another Biblical requirement for accuracy is that the Hebrew calendar reckoning MUST be used. That means a calendar day per the Hebrew reckoning means from 'sunset to sunset'. Our Gregorian calendar system uses from 'midnight to midnight', and that has caused many to error in this timing.

Start on Wednesday, the Preparation Day, the day the passover lamb was to be sacrificed, at evening Nissan 14.

Wednesday evening prior to sunset = Jesus crucified and buried in haste before sunset.
Wednesday Nissan 14 sunset to Thursday dawn = 1st night
Thursday dawn to Thursday sunset = 1st day
Thursday sunset to Friday dawn = 2nd night
Friday dawn to Friday sunset = 2nd day
Friday sunset to Saturday dawn = 3rd night
Saturday dawn to Saturday sunset = 3rd day
Saturday sunset to Sunday dawn = Lord Jesus rose sometime between sunset and dawn.


The ONLY way that Lord Jesus' prophecy of His being in the heart of the earth for a literal period of "three days and three nights" can work, is that if Nissan 14 was the day He was crucified being a Wednesday evening just prior to sunset. Nissan 14 at evening was the time of the passover lamb sacrifice God required per Exodus 12, and Lord Jesus' crucifixion fit it exactly.

The idea that Lord Jesus was crucified on a FRIDAY is simply a tradition begun by men.There is no way to pack "three days and three nights" into a period from Friday to Sunday morning before dawn.

Ever wonder why people create a holy day and name it after a pagan goddess who really doesn't exist, and practice rituals dedicated to her, and label it Christian when it isn't even in the Bible sir?

 

[BreadOfLife]

Ever wonder why people create a holy day and name it after a pagan goddess who really doesn't exist, and practice rituals dedicated to her, and label it Christian when it isn't even in the Bible sir?

Actually - I wonder even MORE hoq seemingly-intelligent people could actually beieve that the English word, "Easter" could have anything to do with a pagan godess.

The idea that it was named after a goddess named "Ishtar" or some other goddess named "Oestra", "Eoster", etc. is nonsense for serious linguistic students who understand that English is a relatively NEW language on the world stage.

Some sources point to the idea that Ostern/Easter is most likely derived from "erstehen", which is the old Teutonic form of "auferstehen/auferstehung" meaning "resurrection".

According to one scholarly linguistic source -
"More recent studies seem to indicate that Easter may be derived from the Latin phrase "hebdomada alba", the old term for Easter week based upon the wearing of white robes by the newly baptized. The octave of Easter, the following week, was known as "post albas", the time when the white robes were put away....Easter may thus mean "white" and be named from early Christian baptismal practices."
("Easter", The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1986) 287)

Don't forget - in all of the Latin and Middle Eastern languages - the word sounds NOTHING like "Easter",

So, IF Easter is derived from Eostra/Ostara, that would only prove a pagan influence on Christians who spoke Germanic tongues. NOT all Christians call the Feast of the Resurrection "Easter".
Byzantine Christians use the Greek term "Pascha", a transliteration of the Hebrew word "Pesach", or Passover.
"Pascha" is also the name of this feast in Latin, the official language of the Roman Rite.
The Italian word "Pasqua", the French "Paques" and the Spanish "Pascua" each derive from "Pascha", and ultimately from "Pesach".

So, it's absurd to assume that "Easter" comes from "Ishtar" or "Eostra" or "Ostara" - or ANY other such nonsense.

 

[amigo de christo]

Actually - I wonder even MORE hoq seemingly-intelligent people could actually beieve that the English word, "Easter" could have anything to do with a pagan godess.

The idea that it was named after a goddess named "Ishtar" or some other goddess named "Oestra", "Eoster", etc. is nonsense for serious linguistic students who understand that English is a relatively NEW language on the world stage.

Some sources point to the idea that Ostern/Easter is most likely derived from "erstehen", which is the old Teutonic form of "auferstehen/auferstehung" meaning "resurrection".

According to one scholarly linguistic source -
"More recent studies seem to indicate that Easter may be derived from the Latin phrase "hebdomada alba", the old term for Easter week based upon the wearing of white robes by the newly baptized. The octave of Easter, the following week, was known as "post albas", the time when the white robes were put away....Easter may thus mean "white" and be named from early Christian baptismal practices."
("Easter", The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1986) 287)

Don't forget - in all of the Latin and Middle Eastern languages - the word sounds NOTHING like "Easter",

So, IF Easter is derived from Eostra/Ostara, that would only prove a pagan influence on Christians who spoke Germanic tongues. NOT all Christians call the Feast of the Resurrection "Easter".
Byzantine Christians use the Greek term "Pascha", a transliteration of the Hebrew word "Pesach", or Passover.
"Pascha" is also the name of this feast in Latin, the official language of the Roman Rite.
The Italian word "Pasqua", the French "Paques" and the Spanish "Pascua" each derive from "Pascha", and ultimately from "Pesach".

So, it's absurd to assume that "Easter" comes from "Ishtar" or "Eostra" or "Ostara" - or ANY other such nonsense.

Research the pagan traditon and then ask yourself , how come bunnies and easter eggs are in the picture .
Exactly .

 

[BreadOfLife]

Research the pagan traditon and then ask yourself , how come bunnies and easter eggs are in the picture .
Exactly .

Secular traditions surrounding Easter are inevitable.
HOWEVER - Easter Eggs are of CHRISTIAN origin, Einstein.
Pay attention . . .

The Easter Egg tradition comes NOT from pagan bunnies ot fertility gods - butt from the ancient traditions surrounding the Lenten Season.
Meat was not the only thing that was abstained from in the Early Church during Lent. For the Catechumens awaiting Baptism and entry into the Church - Eggs and ALL Dairy products were also abstained from. This is where we get the tradition of the Shrove Ttuesday dinner of pancakes. They would use up all of their eggs and dairy prior to Ash Wednesday and make pancakes.

On Easter - eggs were paionted RED - the traditional color of the Holy Spirit and happily feated upon by those who abstained.

If you don't believe me - the Greek Orthodox still cling to this practice. In the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding - there is a scene where they are having Easater dinner and the girl, Toula picks up an RED egg along with her father and they crack them together. She says to him, "Cristos anesti (Christ is risen)", and he replies, "Alithos anesti (He us truly risen)."

If you guys spent aas much time doing your homework as you do spreading your manure - you might learn something . . .

 

[Patrick1966]

God created the rainbow. Satan hijacked the rainbow. Perhaps Satan hijacks other sacred things through paganism.

 

[Robert Gwin]

Actually - I wonder even MORE hoq seemingly-intelligent people could actually beieve that the English word, "Easter" could have anything to do with a pagan godess.

The idea that it was named after a goddess named "Ishtar" or some other goddess named "Oestra", "Eoster", etc. is nonsense for serious linguistic students who understand that English is a relatively NEW language on the world stage.

Some sources point to the idea that Ostern/Easter is most likely derived from "erstehen", which is the old Teutonic form of "auferstehen/auferstehung" meaning "resurrection".

According to one scholarly linguistic source -
"More recent studies seem to indicate that Easter may be derived from the Latin phrase "hebdomada alba", the old term for Easter week based upon the wearing of white robes by the newly baptized. The octave of Easter, the following week, was known as "post albas", the time when the white robes were put away....Easter may thus mean "white" and be named from early Christian baptismal practices."
("Easter", The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1986) 287)

Don't forget - in all of the Latin and Middle Eastern languages - the word sounds NOTHING like "Easter",

So, IF Easter is derived from Eostra/Ostara, that would only prove a pagan influence on Christians who spoke Germanic tongues. NOT all Christians call the Feast of the Resurrection "Easter".
Byzantine Christians use the Greek term "Pascha", a transliteration of the Hebrew word "Pesach", or Passover.
"Pascha" is also the name of this feast in Latin, the official language of the Roman Rite.
The Italian word "Pasqua", the French "Paques" and the Spanish "Pascua" each derive from "Pascha", and ultimately from "Pesach".

So, it's absurd to assume that "Easter" comes from "Ishtar" or "Eostra" or "Ostara" - or ANY other such nonsense.

Why call it easter? Where is the celebration of it in the Bible?

 

[BreadOfLife]

Why call it easter? Where is the celebration of it in the Bible?

Are YOU of the belief that we are ONLY to celebrate or observe things that are in the Bible?
Can you show me where the BIBLE teaches this?

Chapter and Verse, please . . .

 

[Robert Gwin]

Are YOU of the belief that we are ONLY to celebrate or observe things that are in the Bible?
Can you show me where the BIBLE teaches this?

Chapter and Verse, please . . .

When dealing with God yes:
Re 22:18 I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book:
Re 22:19 and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

Christians serve God, not any pagan goddesses

 

[dev553344]

I don't know why people have to call Easter and Christmas pagan. It sounds like their bitter or something. Everyone else enjoys them and gets the spirit of the Lord on those celebrations.

 

[Enoch111]

he actual Greek word is 'pascha', which means 'passover'.

It means Passover + the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Check it out. And Easter Sunday is within that time frame.

 

[Lambano]

I don't know why people have to call Easter and Christmas pagan. It sounds like their bitter or something. Everyone else enjoys them and gets the spirit of the Lord on those celebrations.

Maybe if we re-marketed Easter as "Resurrection Day"...

Why is Resurrection Day important?

During my Bible studies, I was wondering why Paul made such a big deal about the Resurrection. (See 1 Corinthians 15, Philippians 3:10-11.) It's the Atonement that matters, right? Browsing in a bookshop, I ran across NT Wright's book, Surprised By Hope, the title being an echo of fellow Englishman CS Lewis's Surprised By Joy. Wright points out some things in the Bible that should've been obvious - but aren't. One of these is that the original Biblical Christian hope is not, "going to heaven when we die", it's resurrection in glorified πνευματικόν bodies into the Kingdom of God. That new place where Heaven and Earth are joined, and God lives with His people. This is not just some spiritual metaphor for something else; this is our very literal hope.

Who are we as a people?

 

[dev553344]

Maybe if we re-marketed Easter as "Resurrection Day"...

Why is Resurrection Day important?

During my Bible studies, I was wondering why Paul made such a big deal about the Resurrection. (See 1 Corinthians 15, Philippians 3:10-11.) It's the Atonement that matters, right? Browsing in a bookshop, I ran across NT Wright's book, Surprised By Hope, the title being an echo of fellow Englishman CS Lewis's Surprised By Joy. Wright points out some things in the Bible that should've been obvious - but aren't. One of these is that the original Biblical Christian hope is not, "going to heaven when we die", it's resurrection in glorified πνευματικόν bodies into the Kingdom of God. That new place where Heaven and Earth are joined, and God lives with His people. This is not just some spiritual metaphor for something ese; this is our very literal hope.

Who are we as a people?

Well we are the children of God. I think the resurrection is important for several reasons. One of which is to smite death itself and prove that God can bring us back to life. It's important to me as a friend of Jesus because he died so terribly. So to have a happy ending so to speak brings peace to my soul. I mean all he ever did was cared about everyone to the point of healing everyone. He really didn't deserve what he got from the Jews of his time.

 

[APAK]

Actually - I wonder even MORE hoq seemingly-intelligent people could actually beieve that the English word, "Easter" could have anything to do with a pagan godess.

The idea that it was named after a goddess named "Ishtar" or some other goddess named "Oestra", "Eoster", etc. is nonsense for serious linguistic students who understand that English is a relatively NEW language on the world stage.

Some sources point to the idea that Ostern/Easter is most likely derived from "erstehen", which is the old Teutonic form of "auferstehen/auferstehung" meaning "resurrection".

According to one scholarly linguistic source -
"More recent studies seem to indicate that Easter may be derived from the Latin phrase "hebdomada alba", the old term for Easter week based upon the wearing of white robes by the newly baptized. The octave of Easter, the following week, was known as "post albas", the time when the white robes were put away....Easter may thus mean "white" and be named from early Christian baptismal practices."
("Easter", The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1986) 287)

Don't forget - in all of the Latin and Middle Eastern languages - the word sounds NOTHING like "Easter",

So, IF Easter is derived from Eostra/Ostara, that would only prove a pagan influence on Christians who spoke Germanic tongues. NOT all Christians call the Feast of the Resurrection "Easter".
Byzantine Christians use the Greek term "Pascha", a transliteration of the Hebrew word "Pesach", or Passover.
"Pascha" is also the name of this feast in Latin, the official language of the Roman Rite.
The Italian word "Pasqua", the French "Paques" and the Spanish "Pascua" each derive from "Pascha", and ultimately from "Pesach".

So, it's absurd to assume that "Easter" comes from "Ishtar" or "Eostra" or "Ostara" - or ANY other such nonsense.

Secular traditions surrounding Easter are inevitable.
HOWEVER - Easter Eggs are of CHRISTIAN origin, Einstein.
Pay attention . . .

The Easter Egg tradition comes NOT from pagan bunnies ot fertility gods - butt from the ancient traditions surrounding the Lenten Season.
Meat was not the only thing that was abstained from in the Early Church during Lent. For the Catechumens awaiting Baptism and entry into the Church - Eggs and ALL Dairy products were also abstained from. This is where we get the tradition of the Shrove Ttuesday dinner of pancakes. They would use up all of their eggs and dairy prior to Ash Wednesday and make pancakes.

On Easter - eggs were paionted RED - the traditional color of the Holy Spirit and happily feated upon by those who abstained.

If you don't believe me - the Greek Orthodox still cling to this practice. In the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding - there is a scene where they are having Easater dinner and the girl, Toula picks up an RED egg along with her father and they crack them together. She says to him, "Cristos anesti (Christ is risen)", and he replies, "Alithos anesti (He us truly risen)."

If you guys spent aas much time doing your homework as you do spreading your manure - you might learn something . . .

Still trying to defend and normalize and fit a pagan event as a Christian event, an indefensiveable historic fact concerning Easter BoL. And with a lot of writing sweat I see. Why do you care what people write as you will believe what your 'church' says no matter how vile and evil its nature.

Here's a couple of sources that speak to this most definitely pagan event. The second source seems to relish in its pagan history.

---------------
"The name “Easter” was derived from “Eostre,” “originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover.” This very fact causes many to wonder if Easter is really a pagan holiday and if it should be celebrated by Christians.

The origins of Easter are wrapped up in a celebration of seasonal renewal that has taken place in numerous cultures for thousands of years around the time of the Spring Equinox. Some argue that even the Christian version of Easter merely perpetuates a pagan age-old, familiar theme of resurrection rather than honoring an actual person or event in history."

source: Is Easter Pagan in Origin and Roots?

---------------------------------2nd source ------------------



"Easter is a pagan festival. If Easter isn't really about Jesus, then what is it about? Today, we see a secular culture celebrating the spring equinox, whilst religious culture celebrates the resurrection. However, early Christianity made a pragmatic acceptance of ancient pagan practises, most of which we enjoy today at Easter. The general symbolic story of the death of the son (sun) on a cross (the constellation of the Southern Cross) and his rebirth, overcoming the powers of darkness, was a well worn story in the ancient world. There were plenty of parallel, rival resurrected saviours too.

The Sumerian goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, was hung naked on a stake, and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld. One of the oldest resurrection myths is Egyptian Horus. Born on 25 December, Horus and his damaged eye became symbols of life and rebirth. Mithras was born on what we now call Christmas day, and his followers celebrated the spring equinox. Even as late as the 4th century AD, the sol invictus, associated with Mithras, was the last great pagan cult the church had to overcome. Dionysus was a divine child, resurrected by his grandmother. Dionysus also brought his mum, Semele, back to life.

In an ironic twist, the Cybele cult flourished on today's Vatican Hill. Cybele's lover Attis, was born of a virgin, died and was reborn annually. This spring festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, rising to a crescendo after three days, in rejoicing over the resurrection. There was violent conflict on Vatican Hill in the early days of Christianity between the Jesus worshippers and pagans who quarrelled over whose God was the true, and whose the imitation. What is interesting to note here is that in the ancient world, wherever you had popular resurrected god myths, Christianity found lots of converts. So, eventually Christianity came to an accommodation with the pagan Spring festival. Although we see no celebration of Easter in the New Testament, early church fathers celebrated it, and today many churches are offering "sunrise services" at Easter – an obvious pagan solar celebration. The date of Easter is not fixed, but instead is governed by the phases of the moon – how pagan is that?

All the fun things about Easter are pagan. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre, a great northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. Exchange of eggs is an ancient custom, celebrated by many cultures. Hot cross buns are very ancient too. In the Old Testament we see the Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it. The early church clergy also tried to put a stop to sacred cakes being baked at Easter. In the end, in the face of defiant cake-baking pagan women, they gave up and blessed the cake instead.

Easter is essentially a pagan festival which is celebrated with cards, gifts and novelty Easter products, because it's fun and the ancient symbolism still works. It's always struck me that the power of nature and the longer days are often most felt in modern towns and cities, where we set off to work without putting on our car headlights and when our alarm clock goes off in the mornings, the streetlights outside are not still on because of the darkness.

What better way to celebrate, than to bite the head off the bunny goddess, go to a "sunrise service", get yourself a sticky-footed fluffy chick and stick it on your TV, whilst helping yourself to a hefty slice of pagan simnel cake? Happy Easter everyone!"

source:The pagan roots of Easter | Heather McDougall

 

[BreadOfLife]

Still trying to defend and normalize and fit a pagan event as a Christian event, an indefensiveable historic fact concerning Easter BoL. And with a lot of writing sweat I see. Why do you care what people write as you will believe what your 'church' says no matter how vile and evil its nature.

Here's a couple of sources that speak to this most definitely pagan event. The second source seems to relish in its pagan history.

---------------
"The name “Easter” was derived from “Eostre,” “originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons, in honour of whom sacrifices were offered about the time of the Passover.” This very fact causes many to wonder if Easter is really a pagan holiday and if it should be celebrated by Christians.

The origins of Easter are wrapped up in a celebration of seasonal renewal that has taken place in numerous cultures for thousands of years around the time of the Spring Equinox. Some argue that even the Christian version of Easter merely perpetuates a pagan age-old, familiar theme of resurrection rather than honoring an actual person or event in history."

source: Is Easter Pagan in Origin and Roots?

---------------------------------2nd source ------------------

View attachment 31187

"Easter is a pagan festival. If Easter isn't really about Jesus, then what is it about? Today, we see a secular culture celebrating the spring equinox, whilst religious culture celebrates the resurrection. However, early Christianity made a pragmatic acceptance of ancient pagan practises, most of which we enjoy today at Easter. The general symbolic story of the death of the son (sun) on a cross (the constellation of the Southern Cross) and his rebirth, overcoming the powers of darkness, was a well worn story in the ancient world. There were plenty of parallel, rival resurrected saviours too.

The Sumerian goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, was hung naked on a stake, and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld. One of the oldest resurrection myths is Egyptian Horus. Born on 25 December, Horus and his damaged eye became symbols of life and rebirth. Mithras was born on what we now call Christmas day, and his followers celebrated the spring equinox. Even as late as the 4th century AD, the sol invictus, associated with Mithras, was the last great pagan cult the church had to overcome. Dionysus was a divine child, resurrected by his grandmother. Dionysus also brought his mum, Semele, back to life.

In an ironic twist, the Cybele cult flourished on today's Vatican Hill. Cybele's lover Attis, was born of a virgin, died and was reborn annually. This spring festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, rising to a crescendo after three days, in rejoicing over the resurrection. There was violent conflict on Vatican Hill in the early days of Christianity between the Jesus worshippers and pagans who quarrelled over whose God was the true, and whose the imitation. What is interesting to note here is that in the ancient world, wherever you had popular resurrected god myths, Christianity found lots of converts. So, eventually Christianity came to an accommodation with the pagan Spring festival. Although we see no celebration of Easter in the New Testament, early church fathers celebrated it, and today many churches are offering "sunrise services" at Easter – an obvious pagan solar celebration. The date of Easter is not fixed, but instead is governed by the phases of the moon – how pagan is that?

All the fun things about Easter are pagan. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre, a great northern goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. Exchange of eggs is an ancient custom, celebrated by many cultures. Hot cross buns are very ancient too. In the Old Testament we see the Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it. The early church clergy also tried to put a stop to sacred cakes being baked at Easter. In the end, in the face of defiant cake-baking pagan women, they gave up and blessed the cake instead.

Easter is essentially a pagan festival which is celebrated with cards, gifts and novelty Easter products, because it's fun and the ancient symbolism still works. It's always struck me that the power of nature and the longer days are often most felt in modern towns and cities, where we set off to work without putting on our car headlights and when our alarm clock goes off in the mornings, the streetlights outside are not still on because of the darkness.

What better way to celebrate, than to bite the head off the bunny goddess, go to a "sunrise service", get yourself a sticky-footed fluffy chick and stick it on your TV, whilst helping yourself to a hefty slice of pagan simnel cake? Happy Easter everyone!"

source:The pagan roots of Easter | Heather McDougall

Uhhhhhh, yes.
Englich isth ONLY language ever spoken, so naturally, the English "Easter" somes from English and Germanic roots.
Truly idiotic . . .

And I guess we shgould all stop eating bread as well since some pagans ate bread a LONG time ago.

Oh, and I especially like the fact that you btought up the whole "Horus Manure" topivc. This myth has had so many revisions and facelufts over the centuries that would make a Beverly Hillks plastic surgeon blush.

What What color is the sky in YOUR world??

 

[BreadOfLife]

When dealing with God yes:
Re 22:18 I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book:
Re 22:19 and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

Christians serve God, not any pagan goddesses

Just as I thought - you CAN'T show me any Scriptural poroof for your false claims. You guys can't even prove Sola Scriptura from the Scriptures . . .

And ONCE again, Einstein - Rev. 22:18-19 refers to the Book of Revelation and NOIT the entire Bible.

 

[APAK]

Uhhhhhh, yes.
Englich isth ONLY language ever spoken, so naturally, the English "Easter" somes from English and Germanic roots.
Truly idiotic . . .

And I guess we shgould all stop eating bread as well since some pagans ate bread a LONG time ago.

Oh, and I especially like the fact that you btought up the whole "Horus Manure" topivc. This myth has had so many revisions and facelufts over the centuries that would make a Beverly Hillks plastic surgeon blush.

What What color is the sky in YOUR world??

And so BoL where did these symbols of bunnies come from, the rabbits and the hares, the eggs, the hot-cross buns, the GOOD Friday, the Easter Sunday, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox. Just by accident I suppose? If you can say these are Biblically sound ideas then please tell. Until that time, these are all tools and ideas of paganism not part of true Christianity.

All this aside, hello again BoL. Have a great week

 

[BreadOfLife]

Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on a Wednesday, and He rose on a Sunday. And below is the Biblical proof.

Easter is a Christian celebration about the time that Jesus Christ rose from His tomb. Yet the word "Easter" in Acts 12:4 was added by the KJV translators. The actual Greek word is 'pascha', which means 'passover'.

In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Apostle Paul said, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:".

Our Lord Jesus Christ was thus sacrificed for us according to God's requirement for the Old Testament passover while the children of Israel were under His protection from the death angel in Egypt.

The passover lamb was to be sacrificed on the preparation day of Nissan 14, at evening. Then the children of Israel were to smear its blood upon the door posts so the death angel would pass by that house, and they were to roast it, and eat the passover that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, leaving nothing till morning, but what remained shall be burned with fire. And God told them to eat it in haste, with their loins girded and shoes on their feet, and staff in their hand. The first day of the feast was to be a holy convocation, like a sabbath with no servile work done on that day. (See Exodus 12).


Lord Jesus said He would be in the heart of the earth for "three days and three nights".

Matt 12:40
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
KJV

Anytime a period of 'a day and a night' is mentioned in God's Word, it is pointing to the full 24 hour period of a calendar day. The day/night is divided up into two 12 hour periods, the latter night 12 hour period uses the idea of military 'watches'.

The children of Israel historically divided up the night period into 3 separate military 'watches':

1st -- from sunset to 10 P.M. at night, called "beginning of the watches" (Lam.2:19)
2nd -- from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M., called the middle watch (Judges 7:19)
3rd -- from 2 A.M. to sunrise around 6 A.M., the morning watch (Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11)

Thus the "night" watches made up 3 periods of 4 hours each, or 12 hours total. That was per the Old Testament times.

Under the later Roman system of watches, they held to FOUR watches of the night, an evening watch, a midnight watch, cock-crowing watch, morning watch (See Mark 13:35). These were divided up into 3 hour sections, which still meant 12 hours of the "night".

My point with this is to be accurate about the time when Lord Jesus was crucified and then arose, based on what He said about His body being in the heart of the earth for "three days and three nights" meaning a literal division of a 24 hour calendar day, with a 12 hour daylight period and a 12 hour night time period. With that established, then we may begin accurately to determine the preparation day when He was crucified unto the day of His resurrection on Sunday morning.

Another Biblical requirement for accuracy is that the Hebrew calendar reckoning MUST be used. That means a calendar day per the Hebrew reckoning means from 'sunset to sunset'. Our Gregorian calendar system uses from 'midnight to midnight', and that has caused many to error in this timing.

Start on Wednesday, the Preparation Day, the day the passover lamb was to be sacrificed, at evening Nissan 14.

Wednesday evening prior to sunset = Jesus crucified and buried in haste before sunset.
Wednesday Nissan 14 sunset to Thursday dawn = 1st night
Thursday dawn to Thursday sunset = 1st day
Thursday sunset to Friday dawn = 2nd night
Friday dawn to Friday sunset = 2nd day
Friday sunset to Saturday dawn = 3rd night
Saturday dawn to Saturday sunset = 3rd day
Saturday sunset to Sunday dawn = Lord Jesus rose sometime between sunset and dawn.


The ONLY way that Lord Jesus' prophecy of His being in the heart of the earth for a literal period of "three days and three nights" can work, is that if Nissan 14 was the day He was crucified being a Wednesday evening just prior to sunset. Nissan 14 at evening was the time of the passover lamb sacrifice God required per Exodus 12, and Lord Jesus' crucifixion fit it exactly.

The idea that Lord Jesus was crucified on a FRIDAY is simply a tradition begun by men.There is no way to pack "three days and three nights" into a period from Friday to Sunday morning before dawn.

EVERY year, this becomes a thing where people try to reckon 3 literal days and nights. Unfortunately, you fail to understand that to a Jew, ANY part of a day or night becomes a day or night.

1. Jesus was crucified on a Friday, butured before sundown
That's 1 day and night.
2. He was in the tomb all day Saturday.
Another day and night.
3. He rose on Sunday.
Another day and night.

Thats THREE days and night by MY count - and by Jewish reckoning of day and night.

 

[BreadOfLife]

And so BoL where did these symbols of bunnies come from, the rabbits and the hares, the eggs, the hot-cross buns, the GOOD Friday, the Easter Sunday, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox. Just by accident I suppose? If you can say these are Biblically sound ideas then please tell. Until that time, these are all tools and ideas of paganism not part of true Christianity.

All this aside, hello again BoL. Have a great week

As I explained earlier – as with ANY holiday, secular celebrations are inevitable. People are going to inject worldly observances to them. Ever sonder where the Wedding Ring came from? Or the Bridal Veil? Or the Christmas Tree??

Does this mean that people should get married or celebrate Christmas??
OR, have the original meanings been dispensed with so it is a non-issue?

As to the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox – this has to do with the Jewish calendar and Passover – NOT paganism. Virtually everything in the Jewish Calendar revolves around “new moons”. I suggest you do your homework . . .

As doe the eggs – I already explained in great detail where they originated back in post #5.

And I pretty much destroyed your “Ishtar/Oestre/Easter” nonsense back in post #5 as well . . .

 

[Lambano]

I think the resurrection is important for several reasons. One of which is to smite death itself and prove that God can bring us back to life. It's important to me as a friend of Jesus because he died so terribly. So to have a happy ending so to speak brings peace to my soul. I mean all he ever did was cared about everyone to the point of healing everyone.

If I read you correctly, Easter/Resurrection Day is important to you because you love Jesus.

Y'know something? I suddenly realized that this is more important than any theological or ecclesiological arguments. You just taught me a lesson of incalculable value.