Easter vs. the Pagan Holiday Claims Did Christians Borrow the Resurrection Celebration?
Easter vs. the Pagan Holiday Claims Did Christians Borrow the Resurrection Celebration?
Every spring the claim returns: Easter is really a pagan festival that Christianity borrowed and renamed. There are grains of truth behind some Easter customs—but the history of the Christian celebration is considerably more complicated.
You have probably seen the claim on social media: “Christians think they are celebrating Jesus, but Easter was originally a pagan fertility festival.”
Usually the argument goes something like this:
Easter was named after a pagan goddess.
Eggs were pagan fertility symbols.
Rabbits were symbols of pagan fertility.
The church simply absorbed a pagan spring festival.
Therefore Easter is really pagan rather than Christian.
Parts of that story contain historical questions worth examining.
But several different issues are often bundled together as though they prove the same thing.
They do not.
The origin of the Christian resurrection celebration, the origin of the English word “Easter,” and the origin of Easter eggs and rabbits are three different historical questions.
Christianity Did Not Begin With a Spring Fertility Festival
Long before Christians in northern Europe used the English word Easter, the resurrection was already at the center of Christian faith.
The New Testament places Jesus’ death and resurrection in the setting of the Jewish Passover.
Paul summarizes the earliest Christian message this way:
“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Resurrection was not a medieval addition to Christianity.
It was part of the Gospel from the beginning.
Christians celebrated Jesus’ resurrection because they believed Jesus rose from the dead.
Whatever later customs became attached to the celebration, the resurrection itself comes from the earliest Christian proclamation.
Most Christians Called the Celebration “Pascha”
One fact often missing from the pagan-Easter argument is remarkably important.
Much of the Christian world does not call the celebration “Easter” at all.
The ancient Christian term is Pascha.
The word is connected to Passover.
Versions of this word remain in many languages.
That matters.
If the Christian celebration itself had originated as a festival honoring an Anglo-Saxon goddess, it would be strange for enormous portions of Christianity to have celebrated it under a name connected instead with Passover.
The Earliest Connection Is Passover, Not Paganism
The crucifixion and resurrection narratives are deeply connected with Passover.
That connection also appears in Paul.
“For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
Early Christian debates about when to celebrate the resurrection centered on its relationship to Passover and the day of the week.
They were not debates over which pagan spring festival Christianity should adopt.
Historically, the road to Easter runs first through Jerusalem and Passover—not through the mythology of northern European fertility religion.
Was “Easter” Named After the Goddess Eostre?
Here the discussion becomes more interesting.
The eighth-century English monk Bede wrote that an Anglo-Saxon month corresponding roughly to April had been called Eosturmonath, which he associated with a goddess named Eostre.
Bede said the older month-name remained attached to the Christian Paschal celebration.
That is evidence worth taking seriously.
But notice what it would establish.
Why English speakers eventually used the word “Easter.”
Where the Christian celebration of Jesus’ resurrection came from.
A borrowed word does not automatically mean a borrowed belief.
The Name of Something Is Not Necessarily Its Origin
English contains many names inherited from older religious cultures.
Thursday, for example, comes from a name connected with Thor.
Yet a Christian attending Bible study on Thursday is not therefore worshiping Thor.
The origin of a word does not determine the meaning of every later activity described by that word.
A pagan origin for a calendar name is not the same thing as a pagan origin for the resurrection.
What About “Easter Comes From Ishtar”?
Another popular claim says the English word Easter comes from Ishtar, the ancient Mesopotamian goddess.
The argument usually depends largely on the fact that the English names sound somewhat alike.
Similar sound is not enough to establish historical or linguistic descent.
Ishtar belonged to a very different linguistic and cultural world.
The historical discussion of the English term instead centers on Germanic language and Bede’s reference to Eostre.
“Easter sounds like Ishtar” is not a historical argument.
Easter Eggs Have a More Complicated History
Eggs have symbolized life and fertility in many cultures.
So it would be unreasonable to insist that every use of an egg at springtime originated uniquely within Christianity.
But that does not mean modern Easter eggs prove that the resurrection celebration itself was pagan.
Christian egg customs also developed within Christian fasting traditions.
In parts of medieval Christianity, eggs were restricted during periods of Lenten fasting.
When the fast ended at Easter, eggs naturally returned to the table and eventually became part of the celebration.
Christians also came to use the egg as an illustration of new life and resurrection.
Were Eggs Ever Used in Pagan Cultures?
Yes. But widespread use of a symbol does not mean every later use of that symbol has the same religious meaning.
The Easter Bunny Is Not Part of the Biblical Resurrection Story
We can settle this one quickly.
There is no Easter Bunny in the New Testament.
There is no bunny in the early apostolic proclamation.
There is no command for Christians to use rabbits when celebrating the resurrection.
The familiar Easter hare tradition developed much later in European culture and was carried to America by German-speaking immigrants.
Rabbits and hares have also been associated with fertility because of their reproductive habits.
That makes them an understandable spring symbol.
But once again:
A later springtime custom does not establish the origin of the Christian resurrection celebration.
Modern Easter Contains Several Historical Layers
The Gospel Foundation
Jesus was crucified during the Passover period, was buried, and His followers proclaimed that God raised Him from the dead.
Christian Tradition
Over time Christians developed Holy Week, Paschal worship, fasting traditions, special services, foods, and other ways of remembering Christ’s death and resurrection.
Cultural Customs
Eggs, rabbits, baskets, spring flowers, candy, parades, and other customs accumulated in particular cultures and periods.
Confusion happens when all three layers are treated as though they had one identical origin.
Probably—and Christians Do Not Need to Be Afraid of That
Christianity has always moved into existing cultures.
When it does, Christians use local languages, music, calendars, foods, architecture, and customs.
Sometimes old symbols receive new meanings.
Sometimes customs remain mostly cultural.
Sometimes Christians decide a particular practice is incompatible with following Jesus and abandon it.
The church has not always made those decisions wisely.
But cultural adaptation is not automatically theological corruption.
Not “Has anyone outside Christianity ever used this?”
A better question is: What does this practice mean now, and does using it compromise faithfulness to Christ?
Christians Can Make Different Choices About Easter Customs
Some Christians are completely comfortable with eggs, baskets, family meals, and an Easter Bunny for children.
Others prefer to remove the secular customs and focus exclusively on the resurrection.
Still others prefer the term Resurrection Sunday or Pascha.
These choices do not need to become tests of salvation.
“One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.”
Paul’s larger concern is faithfulness to the Lord and graciousness toward other believers.
You Do Not Have to Celebrate Easter in a Particular Way
The New Testament does not command Christians to decorate eggs.
It does not command Easter baskets.
It does not command an Easter Bunny.
It does not even command Christians to use the English word Easter.
If one of those practices troubles your conscience, you are free not to use it.
But we should be equally careful about declaring other believers guilty of pagan worship simply because they use a cultural symbol with a complicated history.
Easter Can Become Distracting Without Being Pagan
There is a more immediate danger than ancient paganism.
Easter can become almost completely commercial.
Candy.
Clothes.
Decorations.
Family photographs.
Egg hunts.
Brunch.
None of these things is inherently wrong.
But it is entirely possible to celebrate modern Easter beautifully while almost forgetting Jesus.
The greatest threat to a Christian Easter may not be a forgotten pagan goddess. It may simply be celebrating everything except the resurrection.
What Are Christians Actually Celebrating?
Jesus Was Crucified
Christ gave Himself for sinners.
Jesus Truly Died
The Gospel is not built on an apparent death.
Jesus Rose
The tomb was empty and death was defeated.
Jesus Is Lord
Christians worship a living Christ.
Christians Should Be Willing to Admit What Is Complicated
Defending Christianity does not require pretending every Easter tradition came directly from the apostles.
It did not.
Some customs are medieval.
Some are European.
Some may have parallels in pre-Christian culture.
Some are thoroughly modern and commercial.
We can acknowledge all of that.
Historical honesty does not weaken Christianity.
It strengthens our ability to separate the Gospel from traditions that accumulated around it.
The Real Issue Is Not the Bunny
Suppose every Easter egg disappeared tomorrow.
Suppose nobody ever mentioned a rabbit again.
Suppose English-speaking Christians stopped saying Easter and used only the word Pascha.
Christianity would still confront us with exactly the same question:
Did Jesus Christ really rise from the dead?
That is the claim on which Christianity stands or falls.
Arguments about ancient spring customs can be interesting.
But they do not answer the empty tomb.
So, Is Easter Really Pagan?
Not in the sweeping way the internet claim usually means.
The English name may preserve a pre-Christian Germanic calendar term.
Eggs and rabbits have complicated cultural histories, some of which extend beyond Christianity.
Modern Easter also contains plenty of traditions that are not found in Scripture.
But the Christian celebration of Christ’s resurrection did not originate with an Anglo-Saxon fertility festival.
Its roots lie in the earliest Christian proclamation surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, Passover, the empty tomb, and the conviction that God raised Him from the dead.
Christ died.
Christ was buried.
Christ rose.
Christ is Lord.
Call the day Easter, Resurrection Sunday, or Pascha. Leave the bunny out or let the children hunt eggs. But do not lose the reason Christians gathered in the first place: the tomb was empty.
Questions Worth Considering
- Have I ever assumed that a cultural custom proves the origin of a Christian belief?
- Do I distinguish between the word “Easter,” later Easter customs, and the celebration of the resurrection?
- Are there Easter traditions I use simply because they are familiar rather than meaningful?
- Could I graciously respect another Christian whose conscience leads them to celebrate differently?
- When Easter comes, is Jesus’ resurrection actually at the center of my celebration?
Lord Jesus, help me separate truth from rumor and the Gospel from traditions that have grown around it. Give me humility when history is complicated and grace toward believers who make different choices about customs and celebrations. Most of all, keep my attention on You. Thank You for the cross, the empty tomb, and the hope of resurrection. Amen.