THE TRUE MEANING OF EASTER

by Pastor Greg Wilson

As a Bible-believing Christian, I stake my all upon the resurrection

of Jesus Christ. Without it I would be, as the apostle notes: "of all
men most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:19). I cannot understand why
some make claim to Christianity, and yet deny the very cornerstone
of the Christian faith; i.e., the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus
Christ.

For Christ and His resurrection I have everything, and to it, I owe
everything. But for the pagan festival of Easter, I have nothing but
contempt!

One need not be a scholar or spend countless hours in research to

ascertain that this holiday is a thoroughly pagan ritual. It has no
connection to Biblical Christianity. A true child of God ought not
observe it in any positive way. Until this century, no Baptist, and
many protestants would have nothing to do with it. Baptists, and
some protestants were persecuted for their refusal to join in its
festivities.

Under the definition for Easter in Webster's Dictionary (College

Edition) one finds: "originally the name of pagan vernal festival . . .
Eastre, dawn goddess." Further reading in an encyclopedia, or
most books on the holidays will identify this Eastre with the pagan
goddess known variously as Eostre, Ishtar, Semeramis, and
Astarte. This is the same Babylonian "Queen of Heaven," whose
worship is condemned in the Word of God (see Jeremiah Chapters
7 and 44).

The trappings of the modern Easter, and its associated days are all
pagan in origin. Lent is not found in the Bible as a Christian holiday.
It is rather borrowed from the 40 days of mourning for Tammuz, the
lover/ husband/son of Astarte. God's Word condemns its
observance in Ezekiel 8:14.

There is absolutely no Biblical authority for such days as Ash

Wednesday, Palm Sunday, or Maundy Thursday. "Good Friday" is
the most bizarre of them all. Any grade school child can see that
the Lord could not have died and been buried late Friday, spent
three days and three nights in the tomb (Matt. 12:40) and risen
again Sunday morning!

The word Easter is mentioned but once in the Authorized (KJV)

Version of Scripture (Acts 12:4). There it is being observed by the
pagan King Herod not by any Christian.

Some who know the pagan origin of Easter seek to justify its
observance by calling it "Resurrection Sunday" rather than by its
proper heathen name. This, however, only succeeds in dishonoring
all the other Sundays of the year.

Truthfully, for the Christian, every Sunday should be resurrection

Sunday! The impact of the resurrection alone can adequately
explain why the disciples, who had observed a Saturday Sabbath
all their lives, began meeting for worship on the First Day of the
week, as we see them doing in Scripture.

Dear Christian, heed God's admonition found in Jeremiah 10:2:

"Learn not the way of the heathen . . ."