Easter is known for its bunnies, colorful eggs, and the return of spring. But where did Easter come from?

Easter is widely considered a Christian holiday (holy day) around the world that celebrates the resurrection of Christ, but does it have its roots in Scripture? Few people realize that Easter is not actually about the resurrection of Christ.

In most Bible translations, the word Easter is not found in the text. The only time the word “Easter” is found in the Bible is when it is mistranslated. The King James Version has it in one place, in Acts 12:4.

When he had seized him, he threw him into prison and put him under four guards of four soldiers each. After the Passover, he wanted to present him to the people - (Acts 12:4)

The Greek word used here is pascha, or it is found 28 other times in the New Testament, translated "Passover."

We find references to the Passover throughout Scripture. The Jews, during their time as God's people, observed the Passover as God directly commanded, Jesus and his disciples observed the Passover, and Jesus died during the Passover holiday, but Passover is not the same as Easter. So why does the world celebrate the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus as "Passover," something that is not found in the Bible, and ignore the concept of the Passover, something that is found repeatedly in the Bible?

Let us begin with this question, what was the whole purpose of the Passover?

"The Passover was instituted as a memorial of Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage. God ordained that every year, when the children inquired into the meaning of this ordinance, the history should be repeated. That wonderful deliverance was to be kept fresh in the minds of all. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper was instituted in remembrance of the great deliverance wrought by the death of Christ. Until He shall come the second time in power and glory, this ordinance is to be observed. It is the means by which His great work for us is to be kept fresh in our minds."—The Desire of Ages, p. 652

"It was not enough that the Passover lamb should be slain; its blood should be sprinkled upon the doorposts; so the merits of the blood of Christ must be applied to the soul. We must believe, not only that He died for the world, but that He died for us individually. We must appropriate the virtue of the atoning sacrifice."—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 277

WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES SAY?

Parents were required to teach their children the reason for the Passover: When your children ask you, “What does this ceremony mean?” you shall tell them, “It is the sacrifice of the Passover to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians and delivered our houses.” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped - Exodus 12:26-27

The Passover was a perpetual ordinance (Note: the requirements of this ordinance were fulfilled in Jesus at the crucifixion): This day shall be a memorial to you. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord. You shall keep it from generation to generation as an everlasting ordinance - Exodus 12:14

Note the main points that are the distinct differences between today's celebration of "Passover," which has a unique focus for the Christian world as "the day of resurrection" (along with bunnies and eggs), compared to the whole reason God ordained Passover:

1. The sacrifice of the Lamb - Jesus, the Lamb of God, who gives his life for his people.

2. The blood of the Lamb - Jesus' atoning blood is what saves the sinner from his sins. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).

3. God delivers his people - Jesus delivers his people from a fallen world and from death itself.

4. The promise of a Savior to come - The people are not delivered by the blood of goats and lambs, but by Jesus' own blood. The entire event of Passover was meant to point forward to the coming Savior.

SO WHY DO WE CELEBRATE EASTER AND THE RESURRECTION?

So where did the idea come from that some celebration of the resurrection must be held exclusively on Sunday? It was an invention of the Roman Catholic Church, whose pagan roots often include pagan traditions clothed in the guise of Christian worship.

Easter was introduced into Christianity under the Roman Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. In an effort to unify Christian doctrine worldwide, the council mandated the observance of Easter, as well as other contemporary Christian practices, such as Sunday worship. Easter had not previously been associated with Christianity.

“In 325 AD, the Emperor Constantine, who favored Christianity, called a meeting of Christian leaders to resolve important disputes at the Council of Nicaea. This council decided that Easter should be fixed on Sunday, not on the 14th day of Nisan [the annual date of Passover]. As a result, Easter is now celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox.”

“The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD decided that it should be on Sunday, but did not specify a specific Sunday. The decision was left to the bishop of Alexandria, since that city was considered an authority on astronomical matters, and he was to announce the result of his determination to the other bishops.” At the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, Easter was fixed for the first Sunday after the first full moon, which occurs on or after the vernal equinox on March 21. This is an astrological observance that God specifically warns against (Deuteronomy 17:3), and therefore the date of Easter changes each year.

If the celebration of Easter were truly related to the actual day of Christ’s resurrection, it would be attributed to a specific date each year. Or I could say, I was born on March 1, but I celebrate on a different day each year, depending on the cycles of the moon. Sounds a little crazy, doesn’t it? But this is how the Christian world, thanks to pagan Rome, views the resurrection of our Savior. The verse in Mark 7:13 speaks directly to the Roman power when it says: Thus you make void the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. And many other things like these you do.

This problem was clearly understood in early America, where Protestants were well aware of who had invented such “holy days” as Easter and its winter counterpart, Christmas: “In early America, Easter was much more popular among Catholics than Protestants. For example, the Puritans of New England considered both Easter and Christmas too tainted by non-Christian [pagan] influences to celebrate.”

CHRISTIANITY MIXED WITH PAGANISM

The Catholic Church mixed many pagan beliefs into Christianity and introduced their observance through various symbols, practices, and holidays, such as Easter. This is why Christianity and the world at large consider these practices to be Christian, but are not actually aware of the true history behind them.

In Rome, before Constantine's decree officially converting Rome into a "Christian" kingdom, there was a system of worship that was rich and diverse in pagan gods and goddesses. Many of these gods are still worshipped in the papacy in the form of "saints" today. In the famous Roman Pantheon, the gods Jupiter, Janus, Saturn, Apollo, and others were transferred to the Roman church and called “saints” (the statue known as St. Peter in the Vatican today is the same statue that was used for the god Jupiter during the pagan era of Rome).

But Rome did not invent these gods, they got them from the Greeks, and the Greeks from the Babylonians. Zeus became Jupiter, Hades became Pluto, and Poseidon became Neptune. But all of these male gods represent the same false god. The origins of this false god go back after the flood to the Old Babylonian god/king Nimrod (Gen. 10:8), a descendant of Cain through Ham, who represents the children of disobedience, one of the three sons of Noah. This system of false worship consisted of Nimrod, his wife Semiramis, and their deity/savior son Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14).

Over time, these figures morphed into the two main deities of Babylon, Baal (2 Kings 21:3) and Ishtar. They were imported to other nations over the ages under different names, but they always retained the same basic characteristics and attributes. Baal, representing Nimrod/Tammuz, became known as Bel, Moloch, Merodach, Osiris, Mars, and Jupiter. Yes, the same Jupiter who is now "Saint Peter" in the Vatican.

Other pagan symbols in the Catholic Church include the fish mitre (hat) from pagan times and the pine cone on the pope's crosier. Pine cones are seen on reliefs of the Babylonian god Marduk. The Romans, Greeks, Assyrians, and now Catholics considered the pinecone a symbol of enlightenment, fertility, and eternal life, but it has pagan origins. The Vatican is home to the world’s largest pinecone and a pinecone courtyard. The Pine Courtyard is the main courtyard of the Vatican Museum, which houses many Greek sculptures.

ISHTAR: THE MOTHER GODDESS

Easter is an ancient spring festival that was practiced long before the time of Christ. The goddess Ishtar is associated with fertility and sex. Celebrations in her honor coincided with the beginning of spring and the increasing daylight hours. Spring was a time of rebirth and fertility, made possible by the increasing light of the sun. So the role of the sun was also an important part of the Ishtar festival. Ishtar worshippers offered her two symbols of fertility, eggs and rabbits, among other offerings. These have now become part of the Christian Easter holiday. The goddess in ancient religions was worshipped as a life-giver and nurturer, and as such, this religion was full of sexual overtones.

Phallic symbols, such as the obelisk, as well as symbols of femininity and divine intercourse, were common in ancient temples as well as in modern temples, especially in India. These symbols are equally common in Roman Catholic cathedrals.

The tradition celebrated today as Easter is a modern form of worship of the ancient Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the Chaldean goddess of war and fertility. She has many other names, derived from her original name Semiramis. She is also known as Aphrodite, Ashtoreth, (1 Kings 11:33), Cybele or Sybil, Rhea, Demeter, Ceres, Hera, Freya, Diana (Acts 19:27), Europa, Isis, Artemis, and Venus. Today, she is most prominently known in Catholic form as the Virgin Mary (one key point that unites them - they refer to themselves as "Queen of Heaven").

The Bible speaks of this ancient pagan custom of worshiping the Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah 7:18: The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, the women knead dough for cakes to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to strange gods, to grieve me.

Many modern practices are associated with this pagan festival in honor of Ishtar. For example, sun worship, Sunday sanctity, and the origin of virgin worship. While many refer to the name Easter as a direct connection to Ishtar, the fact is that the connection is not so direct, although worship is associated with Ishtar. The name Easter is derived from several other sources, including the Germanic goddess of spring, Eostre or Ostara. Ostara was a Germanic goddess and her equal was Eostre, whose feast was held on the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

Ostara was a goddess of fertility. She brings the end of winter. Her presence was felt in the flowering of plants and the birth of young, both animal and human. The hare was her sacred animal. Easter eggs and the Easter bunny were part of the spring festival of Ostara, which was originally held during the festival of the goddess Ishtar. While Christmas is associated with the pagan worship of Tammuz (Baal) and the winter equinox, Easter is the worship of Semiramis (Ishtar) at the spring equinox. It is an astrological worship that God explicitly warns against. The Council of Nicaea set the dates based on the same astrological logic and called it “Christian.”

Since there are only two systems of worship in this world, the worship of the God of heaven, the Creator of all things, and the worship of "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4), all worship and the gods associated with that worship fall into one of these two categories, whether individuals realize it or not.

The Imitation Pattern

2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us that Satan blinds the minds of people so that they will not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the tools Satan has used throughout history to blind people to the true gospel is to establish religions that mix elements of the true gospel with lies. This has been a great strategy to prevent people from recognizing and appreciating elements of the true plan of salvation, such as the sacrifice, resurrection, and second coming of Christ. By creating similar but false beliefs in pagan religions long before Jesus came to earth, it is easier to dismiss Christ’s resurrection as just another version of the same old pagan story from the distant past and to believe that Christ offers no more truth or means of salvation than other gods or religions.

For example, the sacrificial system was imitated by the pagans. The difference is that pagan sacrifices are about man gaining merit to appease a furious God, while the true sacrificial system demonstrates a loving God who condescends to man by becoming flesh and willingly dying in our place.

Early pagan practices and beliefs about Ishtar and the resurrection prepared the world for the religious apostasy that would come after the time of Christ. The pagans believed in a god who was resurrected each spring at Easter—a day dedicated to Ishtar, the mother goddess, also called the Queen of Heaven.

QUEEN OF HEAVEN IN CATHOLICISM

The Catholic Church has adopted into its teaching about Mary the pagan concepts of mother goddess and queen of heaven. Here we see several images of Mary crowned Queen of Heaven on various Catholic reliefs and paintings.

The pagan Queen of Heaven, especially Cybele, was said to be a mediator with the gods, and this exact belief was applied to Mary by the Roman Catholic Church, but it is as pagan as can be, and has no basis in the Bible at all.

May the Virgin Mary, crowned Queen, intercede for us...that we may imitate her in faithfully carrying out God’s will on earth, so that we may one day join her in the heavenly Jerusalem. In every situation of our lives, let us confidently invoke her: “Queen of all saints, pray for us!” – Pope John Paul II

In 1854, the papacy declared Mary sinless or “immaculate” and granted her the position of Mediatrix, and in 1951 declared that she had ascended to heaven, where she was crowned “Queen of Heaven.” This is called the Assumption of Mary. Since then, a complete system of Babylonian worship has developed within Catholicism, in which Mary has taken on the role of Mediatrix.

The breasts of the goddess formed a significant part of the goddess cult, goddesses were often depicted with many breasts to nourish the world. The concept of a king nursing on the mother’s breast is a common theme in magic and Babylonian cult. Even the sun god was depicted nursing at the breast of the goddess. Babylonian symbols of the infant from the mother’s breast are similarly depicted with Mary and the baby Jesus.

It is well known that the late pagan images of Isis Lactans became models for images of the mother and the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus.

Catholicism carries the same mythology. Consider, for example, the Magharet Sitti Mariam, or “The Milk Grotto,” as it is commonly known, where Catholic tradition says that Mary spilled milk from her breast while nursing Jesus. This milk is said to have splashed onto the walls of the cave, creating white marks. The cave became a shrine, revered today as a place of pilgrimage for healing and fertility. Pope John Paul II believed that Mary intercedes for the faithful who venerate her during Mass: When the faithful listen to the word proclaimed at the Sunday Mass, they look to the Virgin Mary... From Sunday to Sunday, the pilgrim people follow in the footsteps of Mary, and her maternal intercession gives special strength and fervor to the prayer that rises from the Church to the Most Holy Trinity.

"The Church's devotion to the Most Holy Theotokos is an inseparable part of Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the Most Holy Theotokos with special devotion. From the most ancient times, the Most Holy Theotokos has been venerated with the title "Mother of God," to whose protection the faithful flee in all their dangers and needs.

This is a dangerous teaching, because Mary takes the place of Jesus. Instead of looking to Jesus as the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), believers look to Mary. In Mary they find access to God. In her the Church is entirely holy and can learn obedience to God. The salvation of all depends on the favor and protection of Mary. He who is protected by Mary will be saved: he who is not, will be lost. God will not save us without the intercession of Mary. Mary takes the place of God and herself acts as a goddess, a teaching to which the Catholic Church has no objection, if we study even her modern expressions on the subject.

But while in the most blessed Virgin the Church has already attained that perfection in which she exists without spot or wrinkle, the faithful are still striving to overcome sin and grow in holiness. And so they fix their eyes on Mary: in her the Church is already "most holy." Here are some of the names Mary has received from the book Thunder of Justice: Prophet of these last times, Immaculate Conception, Mother of the Church, Mary as the New Eve, Queen of Heaven and Earth/Queen of Peace, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, Queen and Mother of Families, Mary as Redeemer, Mediatrix, Advocate, Virgin Mary of all nations, Ark of the New Covenant, Mother of the Second Advent.

The titles Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate are of serious concern because they contradict the clearest teachings of Scripture. The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one Redeemer, Mediatrix, and Advocate, and that is Christ Jesus.

for there is one God and one mediator between God and men—the man Christ Jesus - 1 Timothy 2:5
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people - Luke 1:68
My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous - 1 John 2:1

Despite these words, the Catholic Church is willing to accept Mary in place of Jesus Christ, thus removing him from his role as mediator. Even more surprising is the Catholic Church's willingness to recognize Mary as a goddess and part of the Godhead.

SHOULD WE CELEBRATE EASTER?

Easter is a mixture of truth and error—a holiday that has little to do with Christ, but has an outward appeal. Easter was not created to celebrate Christ, but rather to honor the false goddess Ishtar, the goddess of fertility.

Satan has always distorted and distorted the truth because he knows that if he does, many will be led to disbelieve the Bible and not choose Christ. Although many Christians celebrate Easter as a day to commemorate Christ’s resurrection, the truth is that the celebration of Easter actually has pagan origins.