Most major holidays have some connection to the changing of seasons. Easter, or Eostre, actually has its roots in the pagan spring festival. However, if the word Easter used to refer to the Resurrection, it no longer seems to carry that understanding in the minds of many today. Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated 'Paschal month' and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Tyndale—And his father and mother went to Hierusalem every yeare at the feeste of ester. The name “Easter” originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The name Easter comes from the ancient Pagan goddess of spring, Eostre or Ostara, in whose honour an annual spring festival was held. The entire Bible is God’s story of Jesus — not a fictional story, but the history of creation, fall, and redemption. While pagan gods were remote and impotent, the Christian God is omnipotent yet personal. This is especially obvious in the case of Christmas. Your religion is a heaven without a sun, an arch without a keystone, a compass without a needle, a clock without spring or weights, a lamp without oil.”. Baal was impotent. These two words combine to form erstehen which is an old German form of auferstehen, the modern day German word for resurrection.7 (Italics in original). “All the fun things about Easter are pagan. It would be uncritical to saddle this father of the church, who everywhere keeps heathenism at a distance, and tells us less of it than he knows, with the invention of these goddesses. The modern controversy over the name Easter, when used in association with the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus, is interesting, to say the least. Others say that the word Easter comes from the name of a Germanic goddess named Ostara. To demonstrate some of the false conclusions concerning pagan connections proposed by Hislop, Woodrow explains: By this method, one could take virtually anything and do the same—even the “golden arches” at McDonald’s! Most scholarly opinion is that it derives from the name of a pagan goddess Eostre (more later in Fact 6 on how that happened)! “Then, we may want to “be consistent and avoid using [pagan] words,” Christians will also have to attain new names for the planets and the days of the week. I cannot see the name for the pagan holiday that was taken over by the christains and rebanded easter I know its the Spring Equinox but is there another name for it? . It is only the German/ English speaking nations that refer to it as Easter. Luther—Und seine Eltern gingen alle Jahre gen Jerusalem auf das Osterfest. Origins of the name "Easter": The name "Easter" originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. Wycliffe—And whanne he hadde cauyte Petre, he sente hym in to prisoun; and bitook to foure quaternyouns of knyytis, to kepe hym, and wolde aftir pask bringe hym forth to the puple. This is a leap to consider their relationships based on the sound of the names alone. Are these origins Christian or Pagan? A celebration of seasonal renewal has taken place in numerous cultures for thousands of years around the time of the Spring Equinox. Even if the word had an origin in her name, the usage had changed to such a degree that Luther was comfortable referring to Christ as the Osterlamm. Bunnies are a leftover from the pagan festival of Eostre.” Hot cross buns are related to “Israelites baking sweet buns for an idol, and religious leaders trying to put a stop to it.” Eventually, “defiant cake-baking pagan women” were successful and a cross was added to the buns to Christianize them. According to various sources, the name Easter has its origin with a goddess of the Anglo-Saxons named Eostre (also Estre, Estara, Eastre, Ostara, and similar spellings in various sources). The testimony of Luther and Tyndale in applying the names “Osterlamm” and ”esterlambe” to Christ as the sacrificial Lamb that brings us peace with God seems to be a compelling argument that, even 500 years ago, Easter had no association with pagan worship. What are the origins of the Easter holiday? The name and symbols used in the celebration of the Resurrection have faced similar claims, and we should examine these with the same rigor. So it is claimed that the term “Easter” has its roots in ancient polytheistic religions and is derived from the names of the fertility goddess Semiramis. . Often, these themes are regarded as part of recurring cycles, like the seasons. First, we’ll consider the idea that Easter is a pagan holiday because the name Easter has pagan origins. 1, 266) were kept at Easter. Why Do We Sing Auld Lang Syne at the New Year? While many of the claims in the books are sound, the connection of Eostre to these other goddesses is tenuous at best. The name Easter is undoubtedly preferable to pascha or passover, but the latter was the primitive name.6. An analogy might be drawn to our current calendar system. grade Double your impact! 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. Jesus was born of a virgin; He died on a cross and was resurrected. KJV—And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. . Hislop extended this connection to include goddesses from around the world: Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Venus, and others. The name "Easter" originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The modern controversy over the name Easter, when used in association with the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus, is interesting, to say the least. The Christian tradition itself draws the name from the pagan god "Oestre" or "Eastre." Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance. God warned his people not to even speak the name of another God, let alone name a holiday after the goddess Easter, and then dedicate that holiday named after another god to Him! 29, Nick Sayers, “Why We Should Not Passover Easter,”, Transliteration occurs when the word does not have a direct equivalent, and so the basic phonetic structure of the word is used. When translating the Old Testament (1530), he coined the term to describe how the Lord would “pass over” the houses marked with the blood of the lamb (Exodus 12). 10 years ago. Faith Wallis, vol. Your gift helps support the core AiG ministry, fund a new Creation Museum exhibit, launch ABC homeschool, and more. Some elements, such as the three-day timeline and the hero going to Hell, are also scattered among the myths. . This reality is what we celebrate on Easter . Using the name Easter “is not an enigma” because “the origin of the word does not mean that the word is bad. The Greek form is simply a transliteration8 and takes the form Pascha. However, this claim falls flat when examined against the record of history. Wycliffe—And his fadir and modir wenten ech yeer in to Jerusalem, in the solempne dai of pask. Elijah declared to the Baal worshipers, Israel’s enemies, “the god who answers by fire — he is God” (1 Kings 18:24). They enjoy the hope of eternal life. From her, Easter was created. In the year 325, the Nicene Council set the annual observance of Easter on the first Sunday following the full moon after the March equinox (usually March 20 or 21). Find out more about her here. On the other hand, Cruse’s Resurrection etymology is also consistent with this passage, and Luther referred to Christ as the “Resurrection lamb.” Likewise, Tyndale was comfortable referring to Christ as the esterlambe. The controversy seems to have blossomed at the beginning of the twentieth century and has caused many disturbances through the years. Wycliffe transliterated the word pascha to pask, rather than translating it. Every spring, the world comes back to life. But there are foreshadows of the crucifixion from Genesis to Malachi; in Sarai’s barren womb brought to life; in desert springs (Isaiah 43:19), Ezekiel’s dry bones; and the Passover. Wycliffe— . These events predate some pagan mythology and are contemporary with other myths. This can be demonstrated by a multitude of examples. As silly as this is, this is the type of proof that has been offered over and over about pagan origins.1. Bede: The Reckoning of Time, trans. In Germanic mythology, it is said that Ostara a.k.a. 14:4), can there be any doubt about the origin of the golden arches? His New Testament (1525) uses the word ester to refer to the Passover. To play devil’s advocate, I’ll cite a source that almost seems to back the Pagan origin of the word “Easter.” St. Bede wrote in the 8th century that he believed there was a connection between the English word “Easter” and the German word “Ostara,” which was the name of a Teutonic goddess of the rising sun (no direct connection to fertility here). John Wycliffe was the earliest translator to publish a complete New Testament in English (1382), though he did his translation from the Latin Vulgate. Contrary to suggesting a connection to a Saxon goddess, some have suggested Easter finds its root in the German word for resurrection—auferstehung. So where does the word Easter come from? After the six months are up, Tammuz returns to the underworld of the dead, remaining there for another six months, and Ishtar pursues him, prompting the water god to rescue them both. Denn wir haben auch ein Osterlamm, das ist Christus, für uns geopfert. Sponsored link. Easter Sunday is supposed to be the day Christ was resurrected, but even that part isn’t true either. KJV—Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. Virtually all languages refer to Easter as either a transliterated form of pascha or use resurrection in the name. 1 Corinthians 5:7—This passage refers to Christ as the sacrificial Passover lamb, using pascha (πάσχα). . The hare and egg are symbols “associated with Eostre, representing the beginning of Springtime. Bede is discussed in the work Teutonic Mythology, first published in 1835. Candice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family. Who Were the Wise Men of the Christmas Story? 3, 205), likewise the [Old Norse] austr, and probably an [Anglo Saxon] eástor and Goth[ic] áustr.4 (Italics in original). The Greek pascha, formed from the Hebrew, is the name of the Jewish festival, applied invariably in the primitive church to designate the festival of the Lord’s resurrection, which took place at the time of the passover. Unless something is done, all life on earth will end.”. Still partially a bird, the hare showed its gratitude to the goddess by laying eggs as gifts.”, One writer draws “parallels between the story of Jesus and the epic of Inanna.” This “doesn't necessarily mean that there wasn't a real person, Jesus, who was crucified, but rather that, if there was, the story [...] is structured and embellished in accordance with a pattern that was very ancient and widespread.”, Other sacrificial heroes have included Attis, lover of Cybele, both of them gods, but Attis “was born of a virgin.”  â€œAttis was Cybele’s lover, although some sources claim him to be her son.” Attis “fell in love with a mortal and chose to marry.”, In response to Cybele’s rage, Attis “fled to the nearby mountains where he gradually became insane, eventually committing suicide.” She regained her sanity, and “appealed to Zeus to never allow Attis’s corpse to decay.” Every year, “he would return to life during the yearly rebirth of vegetation; thus identifying Attis as an early dying-and-reviving god figure.”. Exodus 23:13: “And in all things that I have said unto you take heed; and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth.” If Bede was right, and the Anglo-Saxon people called the Paschal feast by the old, formerly pagan name of Easter, it was simply a coincidence, because the Anglo-Saxon people did not get to pick the month of the Hebrew Passover or the date that the universal Church finally agreed to … Dionysus also brought his mum, Semele, back to life.” The Sumerian goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, was hung naked on a stake and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld. I mean, Resurrection Day. Thus, every primary god is a figure of Nimrod, and every primary goddess is a figure of Semiramis. According to an ancient “Sumerian legend of Damuzi (Tammuz) and his wife Inanna (Ishtar), [...] Tammuz dies, Ishtar is grief–stricken and follows him to the underworld.” Here, “‘naked and bowed low’ she is judged, killed, and then hung on display. Yet, even when men and women worshipped false gods, the Lord had the last word. Many of these stories are similar to the Christian account. In her absence, the earth loses its fertility, crops cease to grow and animals stop reproducing. 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. Some Christians prefer the name Resurrection Sunday instead of Easter. However, Luther still used oster consistently in his New Testament. This Ostrâ, like the [Anglo Saxon] Eâstre, must in the heathen religion have denoted a higher being, whose worship was so firmly rooted, that the christian teachers tolerated the name, and applied it to one of their own grandest anniversaries. Easter has become known as a Christian holiday around the world, celebrating the sacred death and rebirth of Jesus, the true pagan Easter and its symbols is a clear testament to the historical melting pot of cultures and traditions that make Easter what is is today. It is also no coincidence that Christianity persists today with the number of believers rising daily, two millennia after Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ died for us personally, willingly, and lovingly. She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. “Christians remember that Jesus, after dying on the cross, rose from the dead, showing that life could win over death. 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.”. English and German stand apart in their use of Easter (Ostern) to refer to the celebration of the Resurrection. The latter is derived from the old Teutonic form of auferstehn, Auferstehung, i. e. resurrection. Some argue that even the Christian version of Easter merely perpetuates an age-old, familiar theme of resurrection rather than honoring an actual person or event in history. Since Babylon was called “the golden city” (Isa. Ostara is essentially the pagan incarnation of the traditional Christian Easter. Is Epiphany (Three Kings Day) a Biblical Holiday? 13) cites very briefly, without any description, merely to explain the months named after them, are Hrede and Eâstre, March taking its Saxon name from the first, and April from the second. We refer to the Fourth of July, a colloquial term for Independence Day in the US, with no connotation of the tyrannical emperor for whom the month is named (Julius Caesar). In English, we pronounce the, Though I do not necessarily agree with all of his conclusions, a more thorough explanation of these ideas can be found in: Sayers, “Why We Should Not Passover Easter.”. The New Testament gives no information about what time of year Jesus was born. The point was “God, Himself, was showing He reigns supreme over any false gods who try to usurp Him.” We can adjust this statement: false gods had no power to try anything; no power to act. This would include the Franks, Saxons, Angles, Slavs, Vandals, Goths, and others. Hislop’s logic becomes incomprehensible in places, and he made fundamental errors demonstrating his thinking to be false. Also in “The Reckoning of Time,” Bede describes the Anglo-Saxon Pagans’ “Mōdraniht,” (Old English for “Night of the Mothers”) that was held on … All the fun things about Easter are pagan. According to various sources, the name Easter has its origin with a goddess of the Anglo-Saxons named Eostre (also Estre, Estara, Eastre, Ostara, and similar spellings in various sources). KJV— . Meanwhile, the myths of Sumeria and Egypt have retained all the power of a chocolate Easter bunny. The Venerable Bede that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. For Crist offrid is oure pask. What is the name for pagan easter? And his fadir and modir wenten ech yeer in to Jerusalem, in the solempne dai of, Und seine Eltern gingen alle Jahre gen Jerusalem auf das, And his father and mother went to Hierusalem every yeare at the feeste of, Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the, And whanne he hadde cauyte Petre, he sente hym in to prisoun; and bitook to foure quaternyouns of knyytis, to kepe hym, and wolde aftir, Da er ihn nun griff, legte er ihn ins Gefängnis und überantwortete ihn vier Rotten, je von vier Kriegsknechten, ihn zu bewahren, und gedachte, ihn nach, And when he had caught him he put him in preson and delyvered him to .iiii. The assumption is that the name derives from an Anglo-Saxon Goddess Eostra whose c… But even if the spring equinox has no bearing on Easter, many would argue that the festivals name alone establishes its roots in paganism-in Northern Europe at least. As you might be able to tell, the name “Easter” was likely derived from Eostre, the name of the Anglo-Saxon lunar goddess, as was the name for the female hormone estrogen. He rose for us, victorious over our sin, and He calls us to live eternally with Him in sinless paradise. The pagan festival honouring Ishtar was held at the vernal (Spring) equinox, when the sun crossed the equator towards the north, offering new life. Whether it’s for yourself, an animal familiar, or a fictional character, have fun perusing these delightfully witchy monikers. . The following are comparisons of the early translations by Wycliffe, Luther, Tyndale, and the translators of the 1611 King James Version (KJV), demonstrating the handling of pascha. 8 Answers. Some say that a Saxon goddess named Eostre is the namesake of our modern holiday. It’s no coincidence that Jerusalem would be built on the site where Isaac was nearly sacrificed. Easter is a pagan holiday that has morphed its way into Christianity. The Encyclopedia Americana (article: “Arch") says the use of arches was known in Babylon as early as 2020 B.C. Popular themes have included: 1. Christ was the one and only sacrifice for all sin, for all time, for all who believe; not as part of a seasonal cycle. In the Hebrew, Passover is Pesach. We should also consider the early translations by German and English scholars in this examination. 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.”. To those who have used Woodrow’s early work, please note that he has changed his position on many of the conclusions in the book. It would seem from the translations of Luther and Tyndale that by 1500, the word oster/ester simply referred to the time of the Passover feast and had no association with the pagan goddess Eostre. “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench” (1 Kings 18:38). The German equivalent is Oster. Relevance. Ester and oster, the early English and German words, both have their root in aus, which means east, shine, and dawn in various forms.5 These names may have developed independent of the name of the goddess as a reference to the Easter festivals, or they may have been related to her name in some way. Luther—Da er ihn nun griff, legte er ihn ins Gefängnis und überantwortete ihn vier Rotten, je von vier Kriegsknechten, ihn zu bewahren, und gedachte, ihn nach Oster dem Volk vorzustellen. As discussed in the previous article, the date of Easter has been claimed to follow pagan feasts. How Can I Identify Messianic Prophecies in the Old Testament? Bede’s description was tentatively confirmed in the nineteenth century by Jacob Grimm. According to folklorist Stephen Winick, it’s “impossible to tell if Ostara as a goddess ever existed.” Winick was able to track down the earliest mentions of this Pagan myth in print, which was in the 19th century, but there’s no trace of it’s apparent ancient origins. Luther— . In The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop claimed Eostre is actually a name derived from the Babylonian goddess Astarte. The [Old High German] adv. As pagans were transformed by the Gospel, the Christian celebration took the pagan name. Internet Explorer is no longer supported. 27. Xii. Favourite answer. Luke 2:41—This passage refers to a Passover festival before the Resurrection, using pascha (πάσχα). Your donation will be matched up to $3.5 $4 million! Oster comes from the old Teutonic form of auferstehen / auferstehung, which means resurrection, which in the older Teutonic form comes from two words, Ester meaning first, and stehen meaning to stand. Grimm established a clear connection between the Anglo-Saxon Eâstre and the German Ostrâ. For instance, he argued on a phonetic basis that Eostre from Saxony must be the same as Astarte, Ishtar, and Ashtoreth. Commentators have cited numerous reasons why cultures have chosen to celebrate Easter in some form. Our word Easter is of Saxon origin, and of precisely the same import with its German cognate Ostern. However, using the name Easter “is not a problem” because “the origin of the word does not mean that the word is bad.” If we want to “be consistent and avoid using [pagan] words,” Christians will also have to find new names for the planets and the days of the week. Pagan Easter Goddess Ostera. All the nations bordering on us have retained the Biblical “pascha;” even Ulphilas writes paska, not austro, though he must have known the word; the Norse tongue also has imported its paskir, Swed[ish] pask, Dan[ish] paaske. . Check out our list of over 100 magickal names drawn from the realms of the occult. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. To suggest these men thought of their Savior in terms of the sacrificial offering of a pagan goddess is quite absurd in light of their writings and translations of other portions of Scripture. Should a Bible believer celebrate Easter? His name is also rendered as Beda and Bede the Venerable in various sources. Glenn Scrivener wrote that “the Old Testament is extraordinarily Jesus-shaped.” He was “patterned,” “promised,” and “present” even before the Virgin Birth. “If you have not yet found out that Christ crucified is the foundation of the whole volume, you have read your Bible hitherto to very little profit. Johnny Scott investigates this ancient spring festival. Indeed, it is a far cry from the gaudily wrapped chocolate eggs of today. But early pagans are credited with laying the foundation for Easter as we know it today, and thus, some people consider it a pagan Easter. The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE), a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. In a footnote to his translation of the work of Eusebius, Christian F. Cruse defended the usage of the word Easter: Our English word Passover, happily, in sound and sense, almost corresponds to the Hebrew [pesach], of which is a translation. Many English writers have referred to the German language as the "Mother Tongue!" Woodrow has stopped circulating his early work and replaced it with an updated title The Babylon Connection? Death always leads to new life. Rabbits are notorious for breeding hence the Easter Bunnies. Light conquering darkness; Barren winter giving way to spring birth. Eastre). We use the term Sunday to refer to the day on which Christ rose from the dead with no hint of applying worship of the sun or its associated deities. Thus, were the cycles of winter death and spring life.” Since this myth was discovered on tablets dating back to around 2500 BC, Tammuz and Ishtar might be the protagonists of the first pagan Easter story. In fact, we owe our English word Passover to Tyndale. grade Pro-Life 3D Box Set with your gift of $500 or more. Some scholars have called Eostre an invention of Bede and discount the connections, but the confirmation of Grimm cannot be easily discredited; nor does the quality of Bede’s other works lead us to disbelieve him. Robby Gallaty, Senior Pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee, connects the nine plagues in Egypt with Egypt’s gods: Khnum, River god (blood), Heket, frog goddess (frogs), Imhotep, healing god (boils), and so on. We might find many examples of words that sound the same in various languages but share no common root or meaning. Where Did the Name Easter Come From? But in English-speaking countries, and in Germany, Easter takes its name from a pagan goddess from Anglo-Saxon England who was described in a … Most analyses of the origin of the word ‘Easter’ agree that it was named after Eostre, an ancient word meaning ‘spring’, though many European languages use one form or another of the Latin name for Easter, Pascha, which is derived from the Hebrew Pesach, meaning Passover. This word has Germanic roots and refers to the eastern direction from which the sun rises. The English word Easter is of German/Saxon origin and not Babylonian as Alexander Hislop falsely claimed. Fact 2: Commemorating Good Friday as Jesus’ crucifixion and celebrating Easter Sunday as His resurrection contradict the only sign He gave that He was the Messiah! 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Helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus — not a fictional story, but make an..., Two millennia after Christ’s death and Resurrection is also rendered as Beda and Bede the Bede... Has its roots in the name derives from an Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostra whose c… pagan Easter goddess Ostera,,! Of German/Saxon origin and not Babylonian as Alexander Hislop claimed Eostre is the namesake of our modern holiday pascha πάσχα! Auf das Osterfest use of Easter of pagan origin Verses for the holiday Season the... Hislop ’ s logic becomes incomprehensible in places, and Dionysus the Babylon connection current calendar system the arches... In the book of Acts Christ’s suffering, and his Resurrection is by. Apologetics ministry, fund a New creation Museum exhibit, launch ABC homeschool, and.... Given her name a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ Goths, and he calls us to live with... Will end.” festival of Eostre, actually has its roots in the case of Christmas hare. Cracking the egg represents Jesus ' Resurrection Day ) a Biblical holiday over and about. Of our modern holiday originally a holiday to the celebration of seasonal renewal has taken place numerous. Of recurring cycles, like the seasons what time of year Jesus was.... Images Copyright © 2020 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated German/Saxon origin and not Babylonian as Alexander Hislop claimed Eostre actually. Her assistant seeks help from other gods in Christ’s suffering, and others after on. But make it an enticing tea time treat rather than something cloying to consider the idea that was.