Satan Clause wizards and magic is associated with Christmas. Just look at the Santa Clause cartoons we allow our children to watch. It was a wizard with magic beans that gave Santa's reindeer the ability to fly. Why would we as Christians submit our children to this.
Bunny Rabbits and eggs have always been symbols of fertility, the word Easter comes from a goddess of fertility, Ishtar.
Mr. Bright, I believe we are intelligent enough to be able to separate fact from fiction. Contrary to the popular theories rampaging across the web, Santa Claus is no mythical person derived from pagan fables. Nor is he the jolly old elf adorned in a red suit circling the globe on Christmas Eve in a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer, a caricature of this historical saint developed in the 19th century by popular American culture. Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas), was an actual historical person from the early years of Christian history. He was born March 15, 270 A.D. in the town of Myra in Asia Minor, in modern-day Turkey, and died December 6, 343 A.D. During his life he was witness to some of the most important events in early Christian history and lived an exemplary life of service to the poor, particularly children, for whom he operated an orphanage in a time when orphaned children were often left to die on the streets alone and forgotten. His devotion to benevolence in the name of Christ gave rise to the legends associated with him. One such act for which he was remembered was traveling throughout his parish on Christmas Eve delivering food to the poor that they might celebrate the “Feast of the Nativity,” as Christmas was originally called, including toys and fruits for the children, for example. He suffered arrest and torture during the Diocletion persecution, the last and most brutal of Christian persecutions by Rome, and became a “Confessor,” someone who suffered and survived torture in the name of Christ and forever bore in his scarred face the proof of his devotion to Christ. He also was one of the attendees of the Nicene Council and was a signatory to the Nicene Creed. It wasn’t until the 19th century when a poem published in the Saturday Evening Post in New York City (Twas the Night Before Christmas) became popular that morphed Saint Nicolas, who had previously been portrayed as a tall, gaunt figure in clerical robes, into the rotund, jolly figure that the secular world has adopted as the iconic image of this historic saint.
As the old saying goes, lies travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on. And with the advent of the internet, they circulate at the speed of light.
You said: "Bunny Rabbits and eggs have always been symbols of fertility, the word Easter comes from a goddess of fertility, Ishtar."
Again, I know the theory that the word Easter is derived from the ancient Assyrian goddess Ishtar is very popular right now, but it’s simply not true. This idea that has taken the internet by storm is a complete fabrication, and you don’t even have to study the research and findings of noted Assyriologists (I would be happy to cite references if you would like), just do a simple fact check to see where this myth originated:
Easter not derived from name of ancient Mesopotamian goddess
The actual etymological history of the word “Easter” is simple. The word was first coined by William Tyndale in the 16th century in the first translation of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures into English. He worked closely with Martin Luther, who had already translated the Scriptures into German, and Tyndale borrowed heavily from Luther’s German language to “coin” (make up) corresponding English words, such as Jehovah, Passover, Easter (English translation of the German word “Oster” which is the word Germans use to this day for the English Easter), scapegoat, mercy seat, atonement, and many other new English words Tyndale coined to translate the Hebrew and Greek for which there were no corresponding English words.
And as for Easter eggs and bunnies and baby chicks, again, those popular theories burning up the internet are all fabrications. From the very beginning of the church, fasting during the 40 days leading up to Easter was the custom of Christians that is still practiced today by orthodox churches throughout the world. In those early years, new converts to the faith spent the 40 days leading up to Easter (called Lent) being instructed in the doctrines of the faith and were baptized on Easter Sunday, or what originally was called the “Feast of the Resurrection.” And the products Christians have historically abstained from during fasts are animal products: meat, eggs, and dairy including milk, cheese, butter, or what is called “fats.” Eventually, other items were added, such as sweets and finally alcohol. Mardi Gras season (French for "Fat Tuesday"), the period between Christmastide and Lent, (my hometown of Mobile, AL is where Mardi Gras was first observed in the U.S.) ends on “Fat Tuesday,” because it is the last day on which “fats” (animal products) can be eaten, followed by “Ash Wednesday,” the beginning of the Lenten fast. Of course, non-Christians have adopted the Mardi Gras celebration and in some cultures, it has become an irreligious celebration of excess and drunkenness. But for the faithful, it marks the last day on which fats can be enjoyed before the Lenten fast begins, which ends on Easter Sunday with a feast to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.
And so also with bunnies and baby chicks and Easter baskets. None of these customs derive or have anything to do with paganism. Being the granddaughter of a farmer, I am well aware of how 40 days of refraining from eating eggs would mean a surfeit of eggs that would not all last until Easter, many would inevitably spoil. So, as Christians housewives who observed Lent came to do for millennia, they left the eggs for their hens to set and the Easter season would see the farmyard filled with baby chicks. Is it any wonder then that children, and even adults, have come to associate baby chicks with Easter?
We Protestants do not participate in all these orthodox observances, nor do we fast during Lent. So what has happened is we have kept some of the customs left over from our Catholic and Orthodox roots, such as eggs and sweets being an important part of our Easter feast, but since Protestants generally refrain from the practice of fasting, the reason that eggs and chocolate play such an important role has been forgotten. Perhaps it’s time we rediscover the roots of our familiar customs so that we will no longer be misled by those who claim that Easter eggs and rabbits and baby chicks are some imagined adoption of pagan fertility symbolism rather than the truth, that these customs are the simple practice of Christians humbly and reverently living out and celebrating their faith.
In Christ,
Pilgrimer
