Easter Origins - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Solon · 04-08-2007, 04:05 PM

Easter is one of my favorite holidays because I get to pretend I’ve gone back in time and am participating in a festival with ancient pagan roots. I’m not trying to prove or disparage Christian and/or LDS faith. I just think it’s interesting how much this holiday maintains ancient (pagan) religious practices by emphasizing springtime themes of rebirth and fertility.

I’ve heard it argued that these connections either (1) are vestiges of original knowledge given to Adam, Abraham, etc. and/or are premonitions of Christ’s divine mission and therefore prove Christianity’s correctness . . . or (2) demonstrate how Christianity is not unique but is just another ancient religion, albeit one that has survived.

Feel free to accept either or both points of view. I’m not making a case for either side, just posting this here for your information.

In ancient Egypt, the myths of Osiris and Isis demonstrated clear echoes of humankind’s desire for redemption from death. According to the story, when the Egyptian god Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother, his loving wife Isis gathered [almost all of] the pieces of her husband together and brought him back to life, winning a victory over death and providing assurance to believers of life after death and victory over evil. In a similar story, the handsome young man Adonis was won back to life through the strength of the goddess Salambo’s love for him. Salambo’s love was stronger than death, and she was able to overcome death for her beloved.

In ancient Greece, those who had visited the realm of the dead and returned to the living were worshiped with special rites and ceremonies, since they knew how to overcome death. In ancient Greece, the singer Orpheus, the hero Heracles, and the goddess Persephone were honored with such cults. For, the idea that death could be surmounted was a powerful attraction in an anxious and dangerous world. Furthermore, in a Hellenistic religion called Mithraism, Mithras was a “savior god” who came to earth to save humankind from a horrible drought through sacrificing an eternal bull. On the wall of a Mithraeum in Italy, an inscription has been found which reads “And us thou has saved by shedding the eternal blood.”

In addition to these cults and religions, nearly every ancient culture celebrated springtime as a time of renewal and rebirth – the same themes as contemporary popular Easter observance. Indeed, the name “Easter” derives from ‘Ishtar,’ a near-eastern fertility goddess, and most of you can figure out the fertility images associated with the Easter’s symbols of rabbits and eggs. Although some are not entirely comfortable with associating Christianity’s holiest day with pagan ritual, the themes of Easter, such as life, renewal, resurrection, and salvation are consistent with these earlier practices and beliefs.

[The Mithras quote is from Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire. Translated by Antonia Nevill. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, page 226.]

ute4ever · 04-08-2007, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solon

I get to pretend I’ve gone back in time and am participating in a festival with ancient pagan roots.

What exactly do you do on Easter?

All-American · 04-08-2007, 04:24 PM

Good stuff.

The word "easter" appears only once in the KJV New Testament (in Acts 12:4), and it's a mistranslation. The greek word is "pascha," translated 28 other times as "passover" and in this one instance as "easter." Go figure.

The parallels in Christianity and other religions are remarkable. There is hardly an original thought in Christianity that does not have some sort of resemblance to other religions, especially with other Near Eastern cognates. The resemblance is undeniable; the relationship is obviously debatable. Is Jesus considered the son of God, for example, because of the thinking that also deified Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar? Or are these parallelisms (and others) echoes of gospel sermons long since silenced? Questions with perhaps no definitive answers, subject more to the bias of interpreters than by facts per se, but interesting, nonetheless.

BarbaraGordon · 04-08-2007, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by All-American

Good stuff.
Is Jesus considered the son of God, for example, because of the thinking that also deified Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar?

Hey, AA, I was just reading something about this the other night. I'll see if I can dig it up.

In the meantime, I was curious what Easter symbolizes for the LDS. Does it have the same significance?

Archaea · 04-08-2007, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarbaraGordon

Hey, AA, I was just reading something about this the other night. I'll see if I can dig it up.

In the meantime, I was curious what Easter symbolizes for the LDS. Does it have the same significance?

It has the Passion of Christ as realized in the the Atonement, and the Resurrection overcoming his death. It is actually the center of most of our worship.

BigFatMeanie · 04-08-2007, 05:04 PM

From a "meaningful" standpoint - Easter signifies the atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection to me (I just don't like the term "Passion" - too many associations with the negative aspects of Filipino Catholicism in that term for me).

From a "what does my family do" standpoint - Easter is low on the totem pole. We don't get together with our extended family. We don't have a special dinner. We don't put up decorations around the house (you wouldn't believe how some of the houses in our neighborhood are decked out - not in the religious sense of Easter but in the Easter Bunny commercial sense). The only thing we do is color some eggs on Saturday and my wife makes up some easter baskets for the kids - that is our concession to the commercialism that surrounds Easter.

I wonder where stuff like the "Easter Bunny" came from? I tell my kids that there is no such thing as the Easter bunny because it is so ludicrous. (NOTE: I don't tell them there is no such thing as Santa Claus - Santa Claus is also ludicrous but at least he is humanoid and not a giant walking rabbit dressed up in human clothes - I've got to draw the line somewhere).

It's intersting that Easter is a true holiday in the old-fashioned sense of the word (a special religious day); however, it's not a holiday in the more modern "governmental" sense of the word (a day off). It's also interesting to me how holidays in the old-fashioned sense of the word (St. Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Easter - days that have religious/pagan roots) are being so heavily promoted by commercial interests to become more and more like the commercial king of all holidays - Christmas.

BarbaraGordon · 04-08-2007, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigFatMeanie

From a "what does my family do" standpoint - Easter is low on the totem pole. We don't get together with our extended family. We don't have a special dinner. We don't put up decorations around the house (you wouldn't believe how some of the houses in our neighborhood are decked out - not in the religious sense of Easter but in the Easter Bunny commercial sense). The only thing we do is color some eggs on Saturday and my wife makes up some easter baskets for the kids - that is our concession to the commercialism that surrounds Easter.

When I was a kid our family was ultra religious about easter. We had a set of family decorations: three crosses and even a tomb and we would wake up on Sunday and the stone would be rolled away from the tomb. In spite of my parents' best efforts, I took the true meaning of Easter to heart...I remember beating my little brother over the head with my basket to keep him from getting the prize $2 egg.

In present day...today we all went to church, next is the big dinner with the whole extended family. Then the Easter Egg hunt. Super cold this year, though.

Quote:

It's also interesting to me how holidays in the old-fashioned sense of the word (St. Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Easter - days that have religious/pagan roots) are being so heavily promoted by commercial interests to become more and more like the commercial king of all holidays - Christmas.

I noticed this earlier this week. I went down the Easter aisle and there were huge toys everywhere. Like it was Christmas. They even had Easter bikes out. How do you get a bike into an Easter egg? That must be one hell of a basket.

BarbaraGordon · 04-08-2007, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solon

Indeed, the name “Easter” derives from ‘Ishtar,’ a near-eastern fertility goddess,

I thought Easter derived from Oestra? Is Oestra a derivative of Ishtar?

All-American · 04-08-2007, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarbaraGordon

I thought Easter derived from Oestra? Is Oestra a derivative of Ishtar?

I had always understood it to have derived from Ishtar as well.

Solon · 04-08-2007, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarbaraGordon

I thought Easter derived from Oestra? Is Oestra a derivative of Ishtar?

I think Oestra (referring to the Equinox) is derived from Ishtar/Astarte as well. Spring is a special time for goddess worship

04-08-2007, 04:05 PM	#1
Solon Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Happy Valley, PA Posts: 1,866	Easter Origins Easter is one of my favorite holidays because I get to pretend I’ve gone back in time and am participating in a festival with ancient pagan roots. I’m not trying to prove or disparage Christian and/or LDS faith. I just think it’s interesting how much this holiday maintains ancient (pagan) religious practices by emphasizing springtime themes of rebirth and fertility. I’ve heard it argued that these connections either (1) are vestiges of original knowledge given to Adam, Abraham, etc. and/or are premonitions of Christ’s divine mission and therefore prove Christianity’s correctness . . . or (2) demonstrate how Christianity is not unique but is just another ancient religion, albeit one that has survived. Feel free to accept either or both points of view. I’m not making a case for either side, just posting this here for your information. In ancient Egypt, the myths of Osiris and Isis demonstrated clear echoes of humankind’s desire for redemption from death. According to the story, when the Egyptian god Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother, his loving wife Isis gathered [almost all of] the pieces of her husband together and brought him back to life, winning a victory over death and providing assurance to believers of life after death and victory over evil. In a similar story, the handsome young man Adonis was won back to life through the strength of the goddess Salambo’s love for him. Salambo’s love was stronger than death, and she was able to overcome death for her beloved. In ancient Greece, those who had visited the realm of the dead and returned to the living were worshiped with special rites and ceremonies, since they knew how to overcome death. In ancient Greece, the singer Orpheus, the hero Heracles, and the goddess Persephone were honored with such cults. For, the idea that death could be surmounted was a powerful attraction in an anxious and dangerous world. Furthermore, in a Hellenistic religion called Mithraism, Mithras was a “savior god” who came to earth to save humankind from a horrible drought through sacrificing an eternal bull. On the wall of a Mithraeum in Italy, an inscription has been found which reads “And us thou has saved by shedding the eternal blood.” In addition to these cults and religions, nearly every ancient culture celebrated springtime as a time of renewal and rebirth – the same themes as contemporary popular Easter observance. Indeed, the name “Easter” derives from ‘Ishtar,’ a near-eastern fertility goddess, and most of you can figure out the fertility images associated with the Easter’s symbols of rabbits and eggs. Although some are not entirely comfortable with associating Christianity’s holiest day with pagan ritual, the themes of Easter, such as life, renewal, resurrection, and salvation are consistent with these earlier practices and beliefs. [The Mithras quote is from Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire. Translated by Antonia Nevill. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, page 226.] __________________ I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free. - Epitaph of Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957)

04-08-2007, 04:24 PM	#3
All-American Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3,420	Good stuff. The word "easter" appears only once in the KJV New Testament (in Acts 12:4), and it's a mistranslation. The greek word is "pascha," translated 28 other times as "passover" and in this one instance as "easter." Go figure. The parallels in Christianity and other religions are remarkable. There is hardly an original thought in Christianity that does not have some sort of resemblance to other religions, especially with other Near Eastern cognates. The resemblance is undeniable; the relationship is obviously debatable. Is Jesus considered the son of God, for example, because of the thinking that also deified Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar? Or are these parallelisms (and others) echoes of gospel sermons long since silenced? Questions with perhaps no definitive answers, subject more to the bias of interpreters than by facts per se, but interesting, nonetheless. __________________ εν αρχη ην ο λογος

04-08-2007, 05:04 PM	#6
BigFatMeanie Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: South Jordan Posts: 1,725	From a "meaningful" standpoint - Easter signifies the atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection to me (I just don't like the term "Passion" - too many associations with the negative aspects of Filipino Catholicism in that term for me). From a "what does my family do" standpoint - Easter is low on the totem pole. We don't get together with our extended family. We don't have a special dinner. We don't put up decorations around the house (you wouldn't believe how some of the houses in our neighborhood are decked out - not in the religious sense of Easter but in the Easter Bunny commercial sense). The only thing we do is color some eggs on Saturday and my wife makes up some easter baskets for the kids - that is our concession to the commercialism that surrounds Easter. I wonder where stuff like the "Easter Bunny" came from? I tell my kids that there is no such thing as the Easter bunny because it is so ludicrous. (NOTE: I don't tell them there is no such thing as Santa Claus - Santa Claus is also ludicrous but at least he is humanoid and not a giant walking rabbit dressed up in human clothes - I've got to draw the line somewhere). It's intersting that Easter is a true holiday in the old-fashioned sense of the word (a special religious day); however, it's not a holiday in the more modern "governmental" sense of the word (a day off). It's also interesting to me how holidays in the old-fashioned sense of the word (St. Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Easter - days that have religious/pagan roots) are being so heavily promoted by commercial interests to become more and more like the commercial king of all holidays - Christmas.