WHY WE CALL “EASTER” RESURRECTION SUNDAY
By Richard Lineberry
The naming of the day celebrated as the day Christ
resurrected as “Easter” has been a controversial issue since it began. After all, what does Christ have to do with
bunnies and colored eggs?
The earliest Christians left no records that they celebrated any specific annual festivals but gradually various days
began to be named fir the deaths of famous martyrs.
You can research as much as you would like, but you’ll not find a specific time when “resurrection day” was officially installed. Of course the early Christians were much aware of the Jewish calendar, especially Passover but that was not the same as celebrating the day Christ arose. The
Roman pagans had numerous holiday celebrations for the pagan gods and goddesses. Rabbits were always
considered as symbolic of fertility and increase. Eggs were a symbol (to some) as new life. The pagan goddess, Oestra, could have been the origin of the word “Easter”.
As the early church became less Jewish and more Gentile, they desired to adopt special days to honor their faith. Not all of the old Jewish festivals seemed to fit. Thus, the
Christian calendar began to develop. The Council of Nicea (325) established “Easter” t be the first Sunday after the full moon following the March equinox. Therefore is was a
recognized celebration by that time. It was not unusual, due to the centuries long momentum of mythical and pagan thinking, that special events kept their pagan names, Just check out the origins of the names of our days of the week or months. It’s pretty hard to totally distance ourselves from pagan names and religions that have been around for centuries.
This, of course, doesn’t mean that we celebrate something the same days as pagans would have. We know that
Resurrection Day reminds us of the day Jesus rose from the dead to bring about redemption. Hunting Ester eggs or celebrating bunnies has nothing to do with Christianity and they were never used as Christian symbols. When I
celebrate Resurrection Day I am celebrating the greatest event of all time: the day Christ accomplished our
salvation!
By Richard Lineberry
The naming of the day celebrated as the day Christ
resurrected as “Easter” has been a controversial issue since it began. After all, what does Christ have to do with
bunnies and colored eggs?
The earliest Christians left no records that they celebrated any specific annual festivals but gradually various days
began to be named fir the deaths of famous martyrs.
You can research as much as you would like, but you’ll not find a specific time when “resurrection day” was officially installed. Of course the early Christians were much aware of the Jewish calendar, especially Passover but that was not the same as celebrating the day Christ arose. The
Roman pagans had numerous holiday celebrations for the pagan gods and goddesses. Rabbits were always
considered as symbolic of fertility and increase. Eggs were a symbol (to some) as new life. The pagan goddess, Oestra, could have been the origin of the word “Easter”.
As the early church became less Jewish and more Gentile, they desired to adopt special days to honor their faith. Not all of the old Jewish festivals seemed to fit. Thus, the
Christian calendar began to develop. The Council of Nicea (325) established “Easter” t be the first Sunday after the full moon following the March equinox. Therefore is was a
recognized celebration by that time. It was not unusual, due to the centuries long momentum of mythical and pagan thinking, that special events kept their pagan names, Just check out the origins of the names of our days of the week or months. It’s pretty hard to totally distance ourselves from pagan names and religions that have been around for centuries.
This, of course, doesn’t mean that we celebrate something the same days as pagans would have. We know that
Resurrection Day reminds us of the day Jesus rose from the dead to bring about redemption. Hunting Ester eggs or celebrating bunnies has nothing to do with Christianity and they were never used as Christian symbols. When I
celebrate Resurrection Day I am celebrating the greatest event of all time: the day Christ accomplished our
salvation!
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