Information Related to "Does Easter Commemorate Jesus Christ's Resurrection?"
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The surprising story behind this religious holiday
by Wilbur Berg
s a boy attending a mainstream church with
my family, I was always surprised to see people at services on
Easter Sunday who did not come at any other time of the year,
not even at Christmas.
Embarrassed and somewhat fearful, a few of them told us they hoped that God would forgive their sins and absences because they made the special effort to come to church on Easter Sunday, which to them was the most sacred time of the year.
Others felt that a special measure of sanctification, purification and holiness was imparted to them by their attendance at Easter services.
However, these people didn't realize that their faith was not based on fact and reality. None of them knew or even wondered about Easter's origins. They would have been surprised to know the truth of the matter.
Many people are amazed to find that the Bible does not mention Easter at all. Neither Jesus nor the apostles ever directed that it should be observed. The word Easter in Acts 12:4 in the King James Version is an incorrect translation of the Greek word pascha, which refers to Passover, not Easter. This mistake has been corrected in modern translations of the New Testament.
Also not generally known is that Easter did not originate with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Encyclopedias and dictionaries trace the term Easter variously back to Eostre, the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring; to Eostur, the Norse word for the spring season; or to Ishtar, the ancient spring goddess of Near Eastern countries, also known as Astarte, or, in the Bible, Ashtoreth.
All are connected to the spring season and springtime fertility festivals which represented rejuvenation, reproduction and the life-enriching qualities of the sun. Customs and symbols associated today with Easter observance can be directly traced back to Easter's pre-Christian origins.
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