just because the original meaning behind easter is pagan, doesn't mean that christians worship anything besides christ on easter. i use the day to remember his sacrifice for me and his resurrection. the only thing in common with the pagan tradition is the day is happens on, and the name. other than that i am just remembering what christ did for me on that day. i don't think any practicing christians would claim they are worshipping anything else on easter, so i don't think they can be faulted for it.

If Easter was a Christian Holy day, wouldn't it fall on the same day every year? Hence because it is a PAGAN HOLY DAY, it changes with the Wheel of the year and the Esbats. Let's not even start with X-mas either.

I know that you are not worshiping Easter in your mind. However, there are other minds besides yours. For example, I think in the devils mind, he thinks that he has got you to worship her while in your mind you are worshiping Christ.

But, lets play it your way. You are not worshiping Easter, you are worshiping Christ using her day, her name and her symbols. Does Jesus approve. Here is what He said to Israel.

Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

So, Christ does not want us worshiping Him using any part of the way that the pagans used to worship their gods. Its wrong. In fact when Israel made the golden calf, they did not do it to worship the calf. They made that feast to worship God. the Almighty say it was a great sin!

This is exactly what you are doing. you are worshiping Christ using the day, the name and symbols of Easter, the goddess of fertility.

In that context, please realize that Easter does not fall on a pagan holiday. Easter is a pagan holiday.

Easter is the actual literal name of the goddess of fertility.
In other languages and cultures she was called Ishtar, Ashtoreth, and Istarte.

You do break the first commandment by observing this day. Nothing about it is Christian. Nothing. You cannot find one single thing about it that is Christian or is in the scriptures. There is actually one verse regarding Easter in which God punishes Israel for worshiping her (Ikings 11:33).

The name is pagan. The day is pagan. The symbols are pagan and the entire doctrine of it is unscriptural.

Consider that Jesus did not rise in the morning, He was already gone when it was still dark.

Paul tells us to keep the day He observe which was the Passover and not Easter. As I cor 11 shows it was an evening celebration, not morning.

1Co 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Are we keeping the Passover this way like Jesus said? Or are we keeping Easter and thinking it is ok because I love Jesus?

Jesus said he would only give one proof he was the messiah. That proof was that he was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights. Count them in the Friday crucifixion scenario. There is only 2 nights and one day. Its lies my friend. Do you want to be a part of lies?

I'll post a thread on the three days and three nights if you ask me to, but for now, I tell you that before God it is all lies, every bit. You can worship Jesus every day of the week, but when you celebrate Christ on her, Easter's holiday, when you worship Christ the way that Easter is worshiped, a morning sunrise service, and when you say happy easter, do you really think Christ thinks you are worshiping Him? Really?

Put yourself in His shoes, and consider an analogy. What if your girl friend who you intended to marry told you that she wanted to celebrate her love for you. Then she picks a day to do this, and it just so happens to be the birthday of her old boy friend. Then, she makes a special dinner for you, but it is the food he liked, and it is the dinner she always made for him on his birthday. Then when you are there eating, she calls you by his name. Ok, who does she really love?

She loves you of course, in her mind she is doing this for you.

Then, finally on another level, Jesus died a terrible death. He was beaten by a professional lictor who knew exactly how for to whip a man until he was almost dead.

His whip had pieces of iron and bone it it. The lash would break the skin, but the pieces of bone would stick in and then when he pulled it back they would rip out the flesh so that he could see his ribs.

Then he went through the agony of crucifixion. He would have to push himself up to breath putting all the pressure on that nail in his feet. Then when the burning throbbing pain was too much he would sink back down and hang on the nails in his hands. This process went on for hours,

Our response? Why we have easter egg coloring. We have easter egg hunts and easter egg rolling contests. We give our kids baskets with easter colors, easter chicks and easter chocolate bunnies and eggs.

Do yu really think any of this honors God?

Art

Well according to what I could gleen from Dreamer's writings,the actual holiday Easter is pagan in origin. That is why it has all of the Pagan symbolism associated with it. But the Passover aspect of it came much later and is essentially the Christian observance. It was a process of "absorption" that took place not unlike Yule/Christmas. In fact that was the exact same situation by all accounts. These earlier Pagan observances of the solstices and Equinoxes would gradually be melded with the essential portions of the Christian religion.

So you take the two, mix them up and poof! You get Jesus on a cross with painted eggs and bunnies and ham supper.

At the Passover Seder, a hard-boiled egg dipped in salt water symbolizes both new life and the Passover sacrifice offered at the Temple in Jerusalem.The ancient Persians painted eggs for Nowrooz, their New Year celebration falling on the Spring Equinox.This tradition has continued every year on Nowrooz since ancient times.

Mirror Mirror Im not sure I understand. All of these earlier cultures were pagan at one point and practiced pagan observances of the Solstices and Equinoxes. They did this long before the period of time that Jesus existed. Christianity is about 2000 years old...

I didn't say anything about Christianity, and what do you consider Pagan?

I would consider anything not of Judaic/Christian origin to be Pagan. I found this on Wikipedia and I would agree with this definition.

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller, rustic") is the blanket term given to describe religions and spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe, and by extension a term for polytheistic traditions or folk religion worldwide seen from a Western or Christian viewpoint. The term has various different meanings, though, from a Western perspective, it has modern connotations of a faith that has polytheistic, spiritualist, animistic or shamanic practices, such as a folk religion, historical polytheistic or neopagan religion.