Pagan or Not? You Decide

As with most Christian holidays, this can be a touchy subject for some people. It can be a legalistic matter in some churches that say we should not celebrate it with bunnies, baskets and the like.

They believe that those things have nothing to do with the death, resurrection and the fact that Jesus did arise from the grave. 

And of course, they would be right on about that. 

But is a pagan holiday or not? And if it is, should we as Christians celebrate it with all of the fun stuff that goes along with that?

So let's take a look at some of both sides to come to our own conclusions about it.

Question: Is Easter a Pagan Holiday?

Easter is the oldest Christian holiday, but how much of the most public and common celebrations of Easter today remain Christian in nature? Many people go to church -- far more than go the rest of the year -- but what else? Easter candy isn’t Christian, the Easter bunny to isn’t Christian, and Easter eggs aren’t Christian. Most of what people commonly associate with Easter is pagan in origin; the rest is commercial. Just as American culture secularized Christmas, Easter has become secular.  (credit: Austin Cline)

This is one view of Easter. But there is more to this person's post as they go into the origins of some of the Easter celebration. And I will share them tomorrow. As for today, I want to give another perspective from gotquestions.org as well. Please read on:

No, Easter is not a pagan holiday. Easter is the Christian celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Christians believe that Jesus, the Son of God, died for our sins on a Roman cross, was buried, and rose to life again “on the first day of the week, very early in the morning” (Luke 24:1).

Why then, the controversy about it?

Good question. Why is it really a concern as to whether it is pagan and is it sinful to celebrate it or not?

Come back tomorrow and let's look into the origin of it to get a better understanding of whether it is pagan and what we should do about it in our own celebrations. 

Thanks for coming by, Friends. Have a blessed day in Jesus!