Easter
By John Greene
Once again we are plagued by compromise and paganism in the church, some by ignorance, but most by just sheer compromise of God's Word.
In the christmas article, it was discussed how the cultures would interact and adopt other gods and goddesses from those around them. When one country would conquer another, many times the defeated country would take on their idols because they must have been stronger. The Anglo-Saxon tribes that settled in northern Europe adopted the Teutonic goddess of new life in the spring, the goddess of fertility, Eastre or as we know her, Easter.
A search through the early fathers writings, Iranaeus, Justin Martyr, Poloycarp and others reveal that they didn't celebrate Easter. They did believe in the stauros, the Greek word for the stake or tree that Jesus was nailed upon. This was evident when they started to attend church on Sundays in honor of His resurrection on a Sunday. This is why Sunday is the first day of the week to them. They didn't change the Sabbath as so many teach, they chose to attend church on the day Jesus arose.
However as everything that is godly seemingly is counterfeited by Satan, the resurrection is no different. The Greeks worshiped Demeter, the goddess of the earth, returned from the netherworld or underworld to be resurrected in the spring on the vernal equinox.
The Phoenecians and Egyptians shared the practice of colored eggs to be exchanged in celebration of the rebirth of the earth from that big egg in the Euphrates river. The Persians also taught a similar practice. These celebrations almost always would have orgies to be symbolic of life.
Years ago a Jehovah Witness challenged me on the cross, its origin, and its meaning. It was then that I decided to find out what I believed and why I believed it. The cross was a combination of the stake that Jesus was nailed to, the tree on Calvary and the sacred tau, symbol of Tammuz. I discovered that they had some information correct. I went on to read the Word closer and make sure that what I believed came from it including word definitions. Easter became one of the first things that I discovered. I celebrate the resurrection, but I will not associate nor celebrate easter in any way. It is paganism from the get go.
Vine's Greek Dictionary has a very good detailed definition for cross. I highly recommend that anyone who loves Jesus to read it.