The name "Easter" never appears in the Greek New
Testament. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Eostre, the name of the goddess
of spring. By the 8th century this name had come to be applied to the
anniversary of Christ's resurrection. With the passage of time the connection
with the goddess was lost, the only remaining meaning being associated with
Christ's resurrection. To ask where and when practices originated is only
partially valid, for most of our practices in everyday life have antecedents in
the ancient world, often from nonbelievers. Over the centuries meanings change.
Even the 60-minute hour came from the pagans of ancient Babylonia, and such
time calculations play a part in our worship services today as we sense the
passing of time.
MORE RESOURCES Easter
commemorates the resurrection of Jesus. Unquestionably the resurrection was of
enormous importance to the apostolic church, for it figures prominently in the
evangelistic messages from the apostles as recorded in the book of Acts. No
issue is made about the date when it occurred, however, other than to note in a
factual manner that the resurrection occurred on the first day of the week.
There is no suggestion that the resurrection made a new day holy. In the Bible
is to be found only one holy day of the week, the Sabbath, formed as a part of
the creation process by God Himself, and never suspended. For that reason we
observe only the Sabbath as sacred or holy time.
It is to be noted that the apostolic church never gave
attention to either the date of Christ's birth or the date of His resurrection,
other than to note that the latter occurred on a Sunday. Neither of these days
was observed by early Christians and if our model is that of the apostolic
church we will be guided by the New Testament reports. Indeed, in the third and
fourth centuries a tremendous debate arose among Christian churches as to when
Easter is to be observed. For the Roman Catholic branch it was largely settled
at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) with a rather artificial formula still
followed to this day, which cannot possibly be commemoration of the actual
resurrection. In current practice Easter always falls on a Sunday and the
Sunday chosen wanders over a period of four weeks ranging from March 22-April
25.
The eastern branch of Christendom selected a different
system, so that in the Eastern Orthodox tradition both Christmas and Easter
fall on different dates from those in the Western Catholic and Protestant
tradition. The point is that the early Christians gave no attention to commemorating
the resurrection day of Christ. If they had been serious they would be
observing the 17th day of the Jewish month, Nisan, which begins with the first
new moon following the spring solstice. Passover among the Jews begins with the
14th day of Nisan. It would not be possible to commemorate the actual day of
the month and have it always on Sunday, so the choice was made to have it on
Sunday, adjusting the day of the month for convenience.
Given this information, although the resurrection of Jesus is
a historical event of huge importance, we have no biblical precedent for making
it a special day of celebration. That came in later centuries of Christian
history. For this reason Seventh-day Adventists have never given the attention
to Easter that other churches do. Our interest is to return to the practices
and faith of the early Christian church.
However, we live in a society saturated with celebration of
Easter. To a large degree this is driven, as with Christmas, by an opportunity
to sell goods to people to mark the day. Clothing, in particular, is associated
with Easter, as are toys with Christmas. In an effort to convey the idea that
Adventists are believers in the resurrection, a few of our people have
introduced Easter observances. They are fearful we will be misunderstood, and
for them it is important that we be seen as orthodox and acceptable to the
society around us. They conform to customs around us, at times unthoughtfully.
Actually this practice conveys another misunderstanding — the idea that we give
special significance to Sunday because it was the resurrection day. A few of
our churches have introduced Sunday morning services for Easter, which for many
Adventists creates problems. We recognize that we are not treating Sunday as
holy time, but the public may not catch the subtle difference.
It is important that we encourage the leaders of our
congregations to consider all the factors involved when they decide what to do
with Easter. Several things are involved and need to be considered before
making decisions. Often choices on matters such as this are made with minimal
forethought. Always it is appropriate to allow the Scriptures to be our guide
and to think carefully about the direction our actions will lead the church.
Although there exists no clear biblical reason for observing
Easter as a religious festival, in parts of the world the public is so oriented
to Easter observance that it is a time of year when they become open to special
studies in the Bible. An opportunity opens to reach out to the public with the
fuller message of Christ, often with good response. Under such circumstances
Easter and its surrounding events can lend themselves to evangelistic outreach
without, however, assigning any special religious meaning to the day itself. Wherever
there is opportunity to advance the message of Christ without compromising
biblical truth, the "wise as serpents, harmless as doves" counsel of
Christ is appropriate.
The death and resurrection of the Christ has been celebrated
for nearly 2,000 years but one group of Christians -- about 10,000 of them who
worship in Loma Linda -- do not observe Easter Sunday.
"Worshipping on Sunday really comes from sun
worship," said Darold Retzer, executive pastor of
The church has a congregation of 6,000, according to Retzer.
The idea of worshipping on a Sunday has pagan connotations
for Adventists and as Retzer said, in the Old Testament of the Bible, the
Sabbath is meant to fall on a Saturday.
Other Christians set aside an entire week of veneration --
from Palm Sunday -- when according to biblical scripture, Jesus triumphantly
rode into Jerusalem and people laid palms in the street for Him -- through Good
Friday, Holy Saturday and finally Easter Sunday.
However, Seventh-day Adventists do not observe what
Christians worldwide refer to as Holy Week.
"We focus on the Resurrection but we do refer to it as
Easter; Our worships are on Saturday.
"We recognize that Palm Sunday represents Jesus'
triumphal entry into Jerusalem," said Retzer, but because of Sunday's
pagan roots, it is not a holy day for Adventists.
In celebration of Easter -- and Adventists use the word
because it has been accepted through the centuries -- the Adventists' usual
Saturday night worship service is split into two days.
"There are only two days named for Easter in the
Bible," Retzer said.
On Friday, the congregation will do what Roman Catholics do
on what they call Holy Thursday -- priests wash the feet of congregants.
"The way we celebrate Communion is that we have an
actual foot washing," Retzer said.
The congregants will wash each other's feet, as there are no
priests in the Seventh-day Adventist religion.
"We don't have an altar ... we don't even have a
pulpit," Retzer said.
The pastor stands on a platform, with nothing between him
and his congregation, Retzer said.
Instead of just one day of Sabbath observance, said Retzer,
"because of Easter we break them up."
On Friday night, "we have a service of contemplation,
in which we commemorate the crucifixion, focusing on the crucifixion and
sacrifice of Our Lord."
Following the foot washing, there will be a homily, a kind
of sermon.
On what is Easter for Seventh-day Adventists, the
congregants Saturday will share Communion -- they call it "Emblems"
because of the food's symbolism -- as part of the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper is usually unleavened wheat bread -- more
of a cracker than the thin wafers used by Roman Catholics -- and grape juice
rather than the grape wine used by Roman Catholics.
"At Easter we make somethng special of it and we have a
3-by-3 wafer of bread and a (small) bottle of grape juice," Retzer said.
Congregants are handed silver gift bags, with a napkin.
"People get a bag at the beginning and then as the
pastor begins his homily, he has people open their bags and eat their bread and
drink their grape juice."
An important distinction between Seventh-day Adventists and
Roman Catholics is that Catholics believe in transubstantiation;
tbey believe that in a miracle, bread is transformed into the body of
Christ and wine into the blood of the Christ.
The word "Christ" comes from the Greek
"Christos" which translates into "Messiah."
At 7:30 p.m. Friday, following the foot washing ceremony,
Pastor Randy Roberts will deliver a homily on "The Feet of Our
Souls."
On Saturday evening, again because it is Easter and after
the Resurrection celebration, the Loma Linda University congregation will
listen to a choir's rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus, from
Handel's Messiah.
The Seventh-day Adventists, said Retzer, are "basically
mainstream evangelical protestant Christians, who do not cling to ritual and
tradition, as do some other Christian faiths.
"We take the Bible ... as it reads," he said.
Q: I’ve heard that many Seventh-day Adventists think that we shouldn't make a big deal out of Easter weekend due to its pagan traditions. Why would Adventists think that we should mention the crucifixion and resurrection throughout the year but that we shouldn't recognize that on Easter weekend? — David, from the United States
A: David, Seventh-day Adventists certainly recognize the
importance of Christ’s death and resurrection as essential to our salvation.
Without the cross, there would be no life, and if there is no resurrection,
there is no hope (see 1 Cor. 15). These important topics are worthy of our
contemplation, study, and preaching at any time of the year.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we not only look back to the
cross, we also look up to heaven, where the resurrected Jesus is even now
ministering as our High Priest in the most holy place of the heavenly
sanctuary. We also look forward to the soon coming of the triumphant Christ, coming
with the hosts of heavenly angels to take us to live with Him forever!
It is interesting that the Bible does not refer to the day
of Christ’s resurrection with any special name such as “Easter” or
“Resurrection Day,” but simply as “the first day of the week” to identify which
day of the week Jesus rose. In 1 Corinthians 15:4, Paul calls it “the third
day” to remind his readers that it was a fulfillment of prophecy (see Matt.
16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Luke 24:46). Some of the challenges facing Christian believers
regarding Easter are pagan influences and commercialization that have crept
into Easter activities.
Historically, the celebration of Sunday as a special day for
Christians appears to have begun with the celebration of Easter in the second
century. The only commemoration of Christ’s resurrection authorized by
Scripture is baptism (see Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21).
In many countries where Easter is highly featured,
Seventh-day Adventist churches use that period as a time for evangelistic
outreach to the community — in essence, Total Member Involvement. During Easter
and all year long, let us Lift up Christ, His Word, His righteousness, His
sanctuary service, His saving power in the great controversy, His three angels’
messages, His health message, His last-day mission to the world and His soon
Second Comin
Easter is known for its bunny rabbits, colored eggs, hot
cross buns, and the return of springtime. But where did Easter come from?
Few people realize that Easter is not about the resurrection
of Christ.
The only time the word “Easter” is found in the Bible (Acts
12:4), it is there by mistranslation. The word in the original Greek is
“Passover.” Jesus died at the time of the Passover feast, but the Passover is
not Easter and Jesus did not die at Easter time. Easter is an ancient spring
festival. Long before the time of Christ, the pagan goddess Ishtar, or
sometimes known as Astarte or Ashtoreth, was worshiped in
different countries. Our modern practice of sunrise worship originates from the
pagan festival honoring Ishtar. The story of Easter also helps explain how
Sunday became sacred and the origin of virgin worship.
The Scheme of Imitation
Centuries before the birth of Christ, Satan encouraged
people to have religious beliefs and practices that would imitate the coming
Saviour’s resurrection.
This was a brilliant strategy that kept people from recognizing
and appreciating the plan
of salvation. Because pagans had similar beliefs of a “resurrection” before
Christ, it is much easier to say that Christ’s resurrection was just another
version of the same old pagan story from long ago that has nothing to do with
reality or a plan of salvation of any kind. Many scoffers use this type of
reasoning to explain away the Bible’s truths.
The sacrificial system was also imitated by pagans, but
perverted to be all about appeasing a wrathful God instead of a loving God that
became flesh and died willingly in our place. Satan has always counterfeited
and perverted the truth because he knows that if he does so, many will be led
to disbelieve the Bible and not choose Christ.
The early pagan practices and beliefs
about Ishtar and the resurrection prepared the world for the
religious apostasy which would occur after the time of Christ. The pagans
believed in a god that was resurrected each spring on Easter—a day which was
dedicated to Ishtar, the mother goddess. She was also called thequeen
of heaven and supposedly interceded with the gods on behalf of
humankind. This precise belief has been applied to Mary by the Roman Catholic
Church, but it is as pagan as it gets, and has no basis in the Bible
whatsoever.
The mother goddess has had many names throughout the various pagan religions in history. She has been known as Astarte, Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Cybele, Rhea, Demeter, Ceres, Aphrodite, Venus, Diana, and Freya.
The mother goddess has had many names throughout the various pagan religions in history. She has been known as Astarte, Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Cybele, Rhea, Demeter, Ceres, Aphrodite, Venus, Diana, and Freya.
Easter did not originate for the purpose of celebrating
Christ, but rather for the purpose of worshiping the mother
goddess Ishtar. Because worshipers of Ishtar presented her with
two fertility symbols—eggs and rabbits—these became part of the Christian
Easter celebration. Because sunrise at the beginning of spring was the holiest
day in the Mithraic calendar
(next to December 25), the practice of Easter sunrise services continued on
into Christianity.
Because the Ishtar celebration was held each
spring on a Sunday, close to the vernal equinox, the ascension of Christ was
changed from 40 days after the time of Passover (as told us in the Bible) to
the annual Easter celebration. All this began in paganism, with
the Ishtar and Tammuz legend.
Many Christians celebrate Easter as the day celebrating the
resurrection of Christ, but the truth is that the celebration of Easter
actually comes from paganism.
This article is adapted by Wendy Goubej from Vance
Ferrell, Christmas, Easter and Halloween—Where Do They Come From? (Altamont,
TN: Harvestime Books, 2003).