Isn't Easter a pagan holiday?

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by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

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By no means! Easter is the primary Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord.

However, the English word "Easter" may have pagan connotations. The Anglo-Saxon priest Venerable Bede in the 8th century derived it from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre.

Of course, our days of the week, too, spring from the names of pagan gods:

Sunday	Sun god
Monday	Moon god
Tuesday	Tiu, Germanic god of war
Wednesday	Odin, Norse supreme god
Thursday	Thor, Norse god of thunder, weather, and crops
Friday	Frigga, wife of Odin and Norse goddess of married love and of the hearth
Saturday	Saturn, Roman god of agriculture

And the names of the months, similarly are deeply infected with the names of pagan gods:

January	Janus, Roman god of doors and gates
February	Februus, ancient Italian god, and festival of purification
March	Mars, Roman god of war
April	Aprilis, Roman republican calendar month, considered by the Romans as sacred to Venus
May	Maia, Roman goddess of spring
June	Juno, Roman goddess of women and marriage
July	Julius Caesar, deified Roman emperor
August	Augustus Caesar, deified Roman emperor
September	Seventh (month of early Roman calendar)
October	Eighth (month of early Roman calendar)
November	Ninth (month of early Roman calendar)
December	Tenth (month of early Roman calendar)

You see, the NAMES that we use -- indeed, our entire vocabulary -- is filled with pagan references of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Germanic, and Roman gods and goddesses, since the vocabulary developed before Christianity came to England. But the CONTENT of Easter — at least as true Christians practice it — is a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The old pagan celebrations of Easter are for those who don't know Jesus. But a meditation on Jesus' cross, his death, and his glorious resurrection are to be the focus of Christians.

Don't get hung up on the name "Easter." But focus on the joy we celebrate when we recall Jesus' rising from the dead on that Sunday morning, that "Easter" morning, 20 centuries ago.

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